Six Month Smiles vs. 3M Clarity Aligners: How They Compare

Not all that long ago, orthodontic treatment meant one thing: shiny metal braces. Not exactly ideal for working adults. Then 1997 rolled around, and Invisalign came with it. Now, adults can straighten their teeth without advertising the fact that they’re in treatment — and they get to skip the inconveniences of brackets and wires.

At first, Invisalign was the only option for clear aligners. Now, there are many companies to choose from, and two that we think deserve your attention are 3M Clarity Aligners and Six Month Smiles. At first glance, they might seem similar, but dig in and you’ll find plenty that sets them apart. So, which company is best for your smile? Let’s find out!

Company Overviews

Clarity Aligners isn’t a household name just yet, but their parent company certainly is. 3M has been in business for over a century, and sold products in nearly every country in the world. They might not be the first name you think of when it comes to orthodontics, but they actually make everything from dental bonding agents to digital intraoral scanners.

Clarity Aligners are actually their second foray into orthodontic appliances — they launched the brand with Clarity Clear Braces. Their aligners debuted in 2018, and in 2021, they revamped their planning software to facilitate combination treatment (braces with aligners) and added a second type of plastic for greater treatment planning flexibility.

Similar to Clarity, Six Month Smiles started by selling only clear braces. Dr. Ryan Swain launched the company in the mid-2000s to help patients seeking a less-visible alternative to metal brackets and wires. A few years later, they added clear aligners, giving patients the option to use just braces, just clear aligners, or a combination of the two. Six Month Smiles distinguishes itself from the competition with its lower prices and the timeline that gives it its name: they claim most people finish treatment in roughly six months.

Scope of Treatment Comparison

In our opinion, 3M Clarity and Six Month Smiles are two solid options for in-office aligner therapy. Both have solid track records of success and plenty of satisfied patients. But just because these systems have worked for others doesn’t guarantee they’ll work for you. To get the benefits, your misalignments have to fall within their treatment scope.

What 3M Clarity and Six Month Smiles Treat

3M Clarity is a comprehensive in-office aligner system designed to compete with braces. While there are a few things their aligners cannot accomplish unless paired with Clarity Clear Braces, nearly all misalignments fall within their scope. According to 3M Clarity, their aligners can treat the following conditions:

• Crowded teeth
• Gapped teeth
• Overbite
• Underbite
• Crossbite
• Open bite
• Snaggletooth
• Midline misalignment

Clarity Aligners can incorporate attachments, which can improve their control and range of tooth movement, according to this 2023 study. But according to some orthodontists, 3M’s attachments are smaller in profile, allowing for multiple attachments per tooth and placement on the backs of the teeth.

Six Month Smiles distinguishes itself from the competition by offering a speedy treatment timeline. However, this also inherently limits its scope to issues that can be resolved 6–10 months — the maximum timeline the company allows. In their own words, the goal of Six Month Smiles is “to accomplish most, but not all, of what would be done with traditional orthodontic treatment.”

According to Six Month Smiles’ FAQs for clinicians, their aligners can treat the following conditions:

• Crowding between 4 and 10 millimeters
• Spacing between 3 and 7 millimeters
• Mild anterior crossbites
• High canines
• Small rotations
• Irregular gingival zeniths
• Posterior crossbites with favorable root positions
• Limited cases of open and deep bite (requires elastics)

On their website, Six Month Smiles mentions very limited cases where their aligners can move the posterior teeth. However, they do not emphasize these cases, and some dentists say the system can only move the frontal teeth.

What 3M Clarity and Six Month Smiles Customers Say

For unbiased 3M Clarity and Six Month Smile reviews, we suggest checking out videos on YouTube and TikTok. Both platforms have quite a few testimonials you can check out and get genuine feedback on the systems. Based on our browsing, patients of both companies back up their treatment scope claims and are mostly satisfied with their results.

Clinical Oversight

Both 3M Clarity and Six Month Smiles are in-office systems, centering on doctor oversight and in-person check-ups. However, the credentials and training of your provider will be quite different, depending on which system you select.

3M Clarity only allows orthodontists to offer their system. They also encourage clinicians to enroll in continuing education specifically for their products. This means that around every 4–10 weeks, you’ll have an expert in dentofacial orthopedics and 3M Clarity aligners reviewing your progress and making adjustments.

Six Month Smiles will work with anyone who has completed dental school and received their license — so both general dentists and orthodontists. However, it targets general dentists who want to offer cosmetic teeth straightening solutions without undergoing extensive training. Dentists only need to complete a two-day course before they can offer the treatment. However, they are supported by orthodontists working for Six Month Smiles, getting feedback from an orthodontist within 48 hours each time they upload a case.

Quality of Materials

Attachments can improve control and tooth movement, but most of a system’s power comes from its plastic. 3M Clarity has two types: Flex and Force. Flex is composed of five layers, creating a level of flexibility that gives it its name. This makes it better at correcting rotations and incorrect angles. Force is a stiffer plastic, making it more adept at expansion, torque, and raising or lowering teeth. Their planning software lets your orthodontist choose which plastic each aligner is made from so they can use the best one for each aligner’s movements.

Six Month Smiles currently uses FLX™ plastic from Zendura®. This is the same company Invisalign used before they started making their own plastic.

Affordability Comparison

You’ll enjoy plenty of benefits from a straighter smile — but you can’t sacrifice your financial well-being to get them. Neither is as affordable as at-home aligners, but Clarity Aligners and Six Month Smiles still offer plenty of value. Even so, Clarity is one of the priciest treatments out there, and Six Month Smiles is usually more budget-friendly.

Sticker Price

Like other in-office treatments, Clarity Aligners or Six Month Smiles don’t have firm price tags. To get an exact cost, you have to see a doctor in person. However, you can look at the averages to get a clearer picture.

Clarity Aligners has a typical price range of $3,000–$8,000, with most patients paying around $5,000. Six Month Smiles has a range of $3,500–$5,000, but most people pay right around $4,000.

What About Insurance?

Whether you need to close a small gap or fully alter your tooth and jaw alignment, you can expect treatment to be thousands of dollars with Clarity Aligners or Six Month Smiles. That’s not just pocket change! You can lower this cost if you have a dental policy with orthodontic benefits. Not every plan covers every treatment, though, so check with your provider before you begin — and make sure you work with an in-network doctor.

Don’t forget your HSA or FSA account if you have one! Most will let you apply funds to clear aligner therapy. Contact your account administrator to get more details.

Financing Options

If you exhaust your insurance benefits and apply your HSA and/or FSA funds, but find that the out-of-pocket costs are still too high, financing can break them up into manageable chunks. Most doctors will offer some type of financing to their patients. If yours doesn’t, you can contact third-party financiers. Just make sure you fully understand the terms so you’re not surprised by high interest rates.

Convenience Comparison

Your to-do list is probably loaded with work projects, home improvements, family responsibilities, and social gatherings. When you have a rare moment of free time, you might want to enjoy it — not see your doctor. Office visits are foundational to Clarity Aligners and Six Month Smiles, but there is more to convenience than seeing your doctor.

Getting Started

Whether you go with Clarity or Six Month Smiles, we think getting started is simple: just go to their websites and use their doctor directories to find providers near you. Out of the two, 3M Clarity is more widely available, so you may find it easier to get started with them. All you need to do once you find a doctor is show up and let them handle the diagnostics.

Oversight

Your dentist or orthodontist needs to keep track of your progress to make sure your teeth are moving as planned, so both treatments require office visits around every 4–10 weeks. It might add more clutter to your schedule, but it also guarantees that your doctor can keep you on track and address any issues that might cause trouble down the road.

How Long Does Treatment Take?

Treatment timelines vary between patients no matter which aligners you choose. Everyone’s anatomy responds differently to treatment, and your starting point impacts how long it takes to reach the end. But you can still get an idea of what your timeline might be like by looking at averages.

Clarity Aligners usually take 6–24 months from start to finish, depending on the complexity of your misalignment. Six Month Smiles’ typical treatment timeline is right in their name, but they say it can take anywhere between four and ten months.

Appearance Comparison

If you ask us, there’s a lot of things to love about clear aligners, and chief among them is their appearance. Their near-invisibility skyrocketed their popularity when they first came out, and it’s still a primary reason adults choose them today. While Clarity Aligners and Six Month Smiles are both hard to see, they have some key differences.

Aligner Material

Your aligner producer’s choice of materials has a big impact on aesthetics. Clarity has two different plastics, but they look the same: ultra-clear and textured. Being ultra-clear can make it harder to see where the plastic stops and the teeth start and we think their textured surfaces have a similar finish to your real enamel.

Six Month Smiles uses ultra-clear, smooth plastic. However, they opt for a shiny finish, which, in our opinion, makes their aligners slightly less natural-looking than Clarity’s.

Aligner Cut

Scalloped cuts hide where the teeth and gums meet while straight cuts overlap the gums, leaving a clear visual edge. Depending on how much of your gum line shows when you smile, and how many millimeters of overlap your aligners have, this may have zero impact on visibility, or it could be slightly noticeable. Clarity uses a straight or scalloped cut, depending on your doctor’s preferences, while Six Month Smiles trims their aligners to match your gum line.

Supplemental Attachments

Elastics, buttons, spacers, and engagers boost aligner control and range of tooth movement — but also increase their visibility. Even when they are clear or tooth-colored, they’re still visible, depending on the angle. Clarity makes smaller attachments and orthodontists can even place them behind the teeth, reducing their visibility. Six Month Smiles doesn’t have the same versatility, so their attachments might be more noticeable.

Patient Experience Comparison

You’ve learned a lot about Clarity Aligners and Six Month Smiles. You know what they can treat, how they look, and even how well they fit your schedule. Now you need to discover those little details that, while easily overlooked, can make or break your patient experience. Though the particular support you receive will vary depending on the practice you choose, we think Clarity Aligners and Six Month Smiles providers usually offer individualized care.

Communication Channels

If you have a question or issue during treatment, you’ll want help without a long wait. With Clarity and Six Month Smiles, your main point of contact is your doctor. They’ll typically only offer support in-person or over the phone, though many also offer email. Some will even have web chat and texting through their patient portal, though it’s not as common.

Oversight

While office visits might be inconvenient, we think they enhance the patient experience. With either company, you see your doctor in person around every 4–10 weeks, giving them the chance to observe how you are progressing. While your exact experience will vary by doctor, in our opinion, this in-person care usually provides a positive patient experience and ensures quality results.

Refund & Warranty Policies

Like most in-office treatments, refunds and warranties are between you and your doctor. The companies themselves don’t have universal policies on things like refinements or satisfaction guarantees. Most doctors will cover one set of refinement aligners if you follow treatment instructions, but some charge extra. If you’re concerned about it, ask your doctor about their policies before starting treatment.

Which Should You Choose?

In our opinion, it’s hard to go wrong with either treatment. Both are considered safe and can work well for the right patients. Still, one will probably be better for your goals than the other.

Who Should Consider 3M Clarity Aligners?

People who want:

• A system that can make major alignment shifts.
• Combination treatment that affects the teeth and jaw.
• Low-profile attachments that can also go behind the teeth.

Who Should Consider Six Month Smiles?

People who want:

• Treatment that is more affordable than most aligner systems.
• Final results in minimal time.
• The option to use braces and aligners for milder misalignments.