After much consideration and endless research, I finally decided to take the plunge and fix my not-so-perfect teeth with Smile Direct Club.

I ended up going the Smile Direct Club route because like many of you, I’m not 100% satisfied with my teeth and to be honest, I just don’t have the time to be taking off from work for an orthodontist appointment every time I need to go in.

Not only that, but I feel like my teeth don’t need an excessive amount of work so I can’t justify spending $5k + on braces or Invisalign when I can achieve the same results in the comfort of my own home for a fraction of the price.

The reason I decided to FINALLY get my teeth fixed is that despite having worn braces all throughout middle school, my teeth have since shifted and created gaps in my four front teeth and an overjet that just kills my vibe. Especially when I take candid photos.  

The gaps aren’t huge per say, but they are big enough for me to feel insecure about my smile and the way my teeth and I get perceived (probably the most shallow thing I will EVER say lol) But really, teeth are huge when it comes to confidence.

And the Smile Journey Begins!

The process of going through Smile Direct Club instead of ortho is so fast and quite easy if I may say so myself. I randomly decided to go for it while I was at work on a Friday browsing the web (it sounds bad but I’m an influencer relations pro so I browse blogs and  Instagram.)

The first step in the process is to book your free scan at your local SmileShop. Lucky for me there are quite a few near me and there was an appointment available that evening and a few the next day so I decided to book it for Saturday.

Not really knowing what to expect, I went in with a few questions in mind thinking they would just evaluate my teeth to see if I was a good candidate, but little did I know I was pretty much committing to the treatment.

SmileShop Appointment:

During the initial SmileShop consultation you meet with a Smile Direct Club rep that walks you through the treatment answers any questions you may have and then takes an imprint of your teeth using a 3D camera (gotta love technology!)

Once the imprint is done they walk through it with you and take notes on what your smile goals are so they can send it to the dental care specialist assigned to you.

After that, they give you a pretty sweet swag bag with a branded lip balm and a whitening kit ($79.99 value) that comes with 3 whitening gel pens and a nifty LED whitening light to help keep your smile white.

From there you are told that you will hear back within 72 hours to see if you were approved and if you are, $250 will be automatically taken out of your bank account (or credit card) as a deposit for your aligners.

It’s very important to note that just because the consultation is free, they pretty much expect you to be committed. I went in thinking I was just going to get a consultation and then get to decide whether I was going with the treatment later but that’s not how it went at all.

I’m sure I can call and cancel the production of my aligners but I’m already invested in fixing my teeth so eh.

Post SmileShop Appointment:

Once you get approved and the payment is taken you can access your Smile Direct Club portal where you can see you new smile.

This is really cool because you get to digitally see exactly what’s going to shift and how your final smile will look all before you even get the aligners!

As you can see below, my main concern is my gaps and overjet so you  see exactly how my teeth will be shifting and where to get the smile I want.

How does Smile Direct Club work?

Unlike Invisalign, where you go in for monthly checkups and progress checks, Smile Direct Club ships ALL your aligners at once. I’m talking from the beginning to end, you will have ALL your aligners in your possession.

Since you are required to change out your aligner every week, each aligner comes in a baggy that’s labeled so you know which to use on which week. So the first month will say “Month 1, Week 1, Month 1, Week 2, Month 2 week 1..etc.”

To make it easy for you to remember, the company emails you weekly to remind you that you need to change your aligner.

Depending on your treatment length, you will then submit a progress image mid-treatment so your dental specialist can evaluate your smile and progress.

Pretty simple right.

I want to note that because you won’t actually be seeing a specialist in person, you should try to visit your dentist more frequently during this time.

How much does it cost?

Now for the real tea, how much is it? Another huge reason aside from convenience that I decided to go with Smile Direct Club was their affordable prices.

Smile Direct Club offers users 2 easy and convenient ways to pay for treatment. You can choose whether you want to do a single, one-time payment and save a few hundred bucks OR make monthly payments.

Here’s the price difference:

Single Pay: as of June 2019 the price for single payment is $1895. However, if you get referred by someone, you get $100 off your aligners so treatment comes out to $1795 (referral rate), which is the price I got.

Monthly Payments: the price for monthly payments is $2290 (no referral) total with a $250 deposit. Your payments end up being $85 a month and you get 24 months to pay off the total amount.

They happily accept HSA, FSA, and CareCredit.

Does SmileDirectClub accept insurance?

According to the Smile Direct Club site, some insurances reimburse users the aligner price which is technically all you pay if you go in to a SmileShop or get a free impression kit.

When do you get your kit?

Since everything was so fast-tracked in the beginning, I thought I would be starting my treatment within a week or 2 of the SmileShop appointment. However, that’s not the case.

Once you’re approved, your liners get manufactured and it can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to receive them.

The good news, because you have to wear your liners 22 hours a day and can only drink water, this gives you some time to start thinking about how you will adjust accordingly.

Once you receive your kit, you’ll get ALL aligners needed for your treatment (in my case,  5 months worth of liners), a case to hold them, whitening gel and a lip balm.

On paper, Smile Direct Club sounds amazing. From the price to the consultation and friendly customer service, this is definitely the route to go if you’re a busy bee and would just like simple work.

The Good and the not so Glam

We live in the real world, however, and not everything is all rainbows and unicorns.

So to make this post unbiased, here are some of the more not-so-glam things about Smile Direct Club.

• No Overbite/ Underbite Correction:  A lot of people have problems with Smile Direct Club because they don’t know that they strictly work on straightening teeth.

That means no overbite or underbite issues are addressed and sometimes overbites or underbites can be worsened if not treated properly. You’ll get the straight teeth, but you may also have to invest in future dental work if your bite worsens.

• Liners can be difficult to remove: You know how I said I did a lot of research, one of the main problems people were having was their liners got stuck to their teeth. The does kit comes with a tool to help you remove the liner if you ever have a problem through.

• You must wear liners for 22 hours: This means no snacking :’(  In order for your treatment to work in the time allotted, you are only allowed to remove your liners for 2 hours max.

This means morning coffee, breakfast, lunch and dinner have to be planned out so you can wear the liners for the required amount of time without affecting your treatment.

• Shifting can be painful: If you had braces before, you are fully aware that when your teeth are shifting, it can be quite painful. So with each tray, you can expect some pain.

• You must brush your teeth after EVERY meal: This is to prevent cavities from developing which can easily happen when bacteria get confined.

• You can only drink water: to prevent your liners from staining, you can only drink water while you wear them, which I don’t mind but if you have a diet coke addiction, you might want to kick the habit before you begin treatment.

All in all, I’m so excited to start the whole process and share it with you all!

Have you used SmileDirectClub or Invisalign? Maybe you thought about it? Let me know in the comments below!

Talk soon babes!