Smile Prep receives compensation from many of the companies we discuss on our site. In particular, we often earn a commission when readers use the links on our site to purchase products or services.
Smile Prep has such a relationship, often referred to as an “affiliate partnership,” with the companies listed below.
Why do we accept payment from companies that we cover?
We strive to provide the most helpful, carefully researched, and accurate dental guides and reviews we can. It requires a significant amount of time, effort and financial resources to make this possible.
We currently have a small staff that consists of 3 writers and four founders – two of whom work for Smile Prep full-time. We also work closely with a range of technical service providers who support us by maintaining our website and who work to ensure that readers like you are able to discover and benefit from our guides, reviews and other content-based resources.
The commissions we earn from our affiliate relationships enable us to support our team financially, while continuing to provide and maintain Smile Prep as a free and helpful resource.
Do these relationships influence Smile Prep’s reviews, editorial content or advice?
The content published on this site reflects Smile Prep’s independent and carefully researched views and opinions. In particular, we strive to evaluate the products and services we cover in a way that is fair and impartial.
Smile Prep does not:
- Have arrangements with our affiliate partners that dictate the views or opinions we express about their products and services, or any other company’s products or services.
- Use any rating formulas, algorithms or criteria that are based upon or that take into account the presence or absence of affiliate commissions or paid services of any kind.
We acknowledge, however, that our relationships with companies we cover – whether paid or unpaid – may affect the content you see on this site in the following ways:
- Smile Prep carefully researches every product or service it covers, and attempts to highlight their unique qualities and features. By establishing relationships with companies that we cover, we are often able to access high level stakeholders within these companies. This enables us to ask detailed questions about their products, services and business practices, which may help us obtain a deeper level of insight into what truly makes a particular offering unique. This may also help us build trust and confidence in the integrity of the team behind a product or service – particularly with respect to newer and smaller companies with less of a public track record. Such insights and perspectives are likely to be reflected in our product coverage.
- We may choose (but are never obligated) to place priority on researching, reviewing or writing about the products and services of our affiliate partners. With that said, we frequently review and write about products in the absence of an affiliate relationship.
- The frequency with which we highlight, reference or link to a particular product or service offering covered on our site may be influenced by these relationships. In particular, Smile Prep often promotes special deals or discounts offered by its affiliate partners, which may be exclusive to Smile Prep’s visitors.
Under what circumstances does Smile Prep earn a commission from its affiliate partners?
We often earn a commission when our readers (a) click on links (“affiliate links”) on smileprep.com to our affiliate partners’ websites, and (b) subsequently:
- purchase their products or services, or,
- express interest in their products or services by filling out their lead forms, or by providing them their contact information.
These commissions do not result in higher prices for our readers than if they’d purchased without clicking on our links. In fact, in some cases we are able to offer our readers special offers or discounts they may not find elsewhere.
Smile Prep’s Affiliate Partnerships (North America Only)
| Affiliate Partner | Actions that result in commissions* |
|---|---|
| AlignerCo | - Purchase of aligners - Purchase of an impression kit |
| Amazon | - "qualifying purchases" under Amazon Associates program |
| Auraglow | - Purchase of any product on auraglow.com |
| Burst | - Purchase of whitening kits and product bundles |
| Byte | - Purchase of an impression kit |
| Candid | - Submission of Candid's Smile Assessment |
| DentalInsurance.com | - Submission of an insurance application |
| Glo Science | - Purchase of any product on gloscience.com |
| hismile | - Purchase of any product on us.hismileteeth.com |
| NewSmile | - Purchase of aligners - Purchase of an impression kit |
| SportingSmiles | - Purchase of any product on sportingsmiles.com |
| Removable Veneers USA | - Purchase of veneers |
| Snow Cosmetics | - Purchase of any product on trysnow.com |
*Whether we ultimately receive a commission depends upon a number of factors, including: (a) the duration of time between when a reader clicks on an affiliate links and takes a commissionable action, (b) whether a reader has previously or subsequently clicked on affiliate links on 3rd party websites, and (c) whether a reader later cancels or refunds their purchase. Our affiliate partners often use third party services, such as ShareASale, Impact, and Everflow, to track our link clicks and to determine when we are eligible for a commission.
Why Does Smile Prep Have Affiliate Partnerships with Some but not all of the Companies it Covers?
We generally attempt to set up affiliate partnerships with all of the companies we cover in detail. However, there are many reasons Smile Prep may not have an affiliate relationship with a particular company covered on smileprep.com. Common reason include:
- Not all companies offer affiliate payments to companies like Smile Prep.
- Certain companies may impose expectations or requirements on their affiliate partners that Smile Prep is unable or unwilling to comply with.
- Our main priority is our content; we may simply not have gotten around to setting up a particular affiliate relationship.