Byte vs. WonderSmile: An Honest Comparison

There are quite a few options for at-home teeth alignment in Australia today, and WonderSmile and Byte are two of the best and most popular options. They share many of the same advantages and disadvantages, but each company also has its own collection of pros and cons.

In this article, we’ll take aim at explaining all of the commonalities and differences between these two respected companies. Along the way, we hope to help you figure out whether WonderSmile or Byte is the right choice to help you on your teeth alignment journey.

Overview and Recommendation: Byte Wins

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These companies both do a great job of aligning customers’ smiles, and we’re confident that you would be a satisfied customer with either one of them. Still, Byte has some crucial advantages over WonderSmile that make them our preferred pick.

• Faster Alignments: WonderSmile can align your teeth in 6-9 months, but Byte offers much faster timelines, treating your alignment issues within as little as three months.
• Superior Support: Byte has the best customer support in the at-home alignment industry, and their Byte for Life Guarantee ensures that they will fix any alignment issues you experience for the rest of your life.
• Free Retainers: Byte includes your first set of aftercare retainers free of charge. On the other hand, WonderSmile charges $99 for retainers.

Is Byte Right for You?

Byte is our top overall pick for at-home teeth alignment in Australia, while WonderSmile is in fourth place on our list. Byte has a well-rounded alignment package that includes the fastest treatment times available.

Byte scored 4.7 out of 5 on our comprehensive rating system, and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their service to our friends and family.

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Effectiveness Comparison

Both WonderSmile and Byte provide highly effective teeth alignment services that don’t require any in-person appointments with a dentist or orthodontist. These companies use high-quality aligners made of BPA-free plastic, and they both produce excellent results. That said, there are some areas where these companies differ, so let’s get down to the details.

Provider Network

Like most of their competitors, Byte and WonderSmile both work with a mixed team of dental professionals that includes both dentists and orthodontists.

Dentists are highly qualified professionals who attend years of school. They are entirely capable of designing and using clear aligners, and there is no indication that you would ever notice the difference between aligners created by a dentist and those created by an orthodontist.

That said, orthodontists require thousands of hours of additional education beyond what dentists need. Therefore, some people only trust orthodontists when it comes to matters of teeth alignment.

Manufacturing Quality

Some companies openly disclose who manufactures their aligners, but that isn’t the case with either Byte or WonderSmile. What we do know is that both of them use BPA-free plastic with no phthalates, and we’ve seen very few complaints regarding the quality or consistency of either company’s clear aligners.

Aligner Cut

WonderSmile and Byte both cut their aligners straight across your gums. This cutting style allows the aligners to exert more force on your gums, increasing their effectiveness. The other option is to “scallop” the aligners to match each customer’s unique gumline. This method is somewhat less noticeable because there isn’t any plastic covering your gums, but it’s less effective than a straight cut.

Technology

Byte and WonderSmile are both technologically advanced companies that use nothing but the best software and finest materials to produce their aligners. However, we’ll give this category to Byte due to their HyperByte device, a breakthrough technological advancement that no competitor has yet to match.

Affordability Comparison

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that pricing is the top consideration most people make when choosing a teeth alignment company. Pricing models in this industry vary widely from company to company. In this comparison, WonderSmile’s prices are slightly more affordable than Byte’s, but it’s important to remember that pricing isn’t everything.

Sticker Price

When examining these companies’ sticker prices, it’s clear that WonderSmile has an advantage. Their all-day alignment plan costs $59 less than Byte’s, and their night-only alignment costs a whopping $639 less than similar treatment from Byte.

Byte makes up for some of this pricing differential by including your first set of retainers for free, while WonderSmile charges $99 for retainers. Additionally, Byte will throw in one bottle of their BrightByte whitening solution, which is a $30 value. While these free bonuses don’t quite make up for the $639 difference in night-only alignment prices, they do mean that Byte provides more bang for your buck than WonderSmile does for all-day aligners.

The other noteworthy difference in this area is that Byte charges $95 for your impression kit, which they will refund if they determine that you’re not a good candidate for their treatment. However, they do not provide refunds for impression kits if you decide that you don’t want to purchase aligners. Meanwhile, WonderSmile charges $45 for an impression kit or $80 for an in-office scan, and they have similar refund policies for these items as Byte does.

Payment Plan Options

Many people don’t have thousands of dollars sitting around waiting for an excuse to be spent. That’s why both Byte and WonderSmile offer financing options to help make their products available to as many potential customers as possible. Let’s examine the details of each company’s payment plans.

• Byte’s BytePay plan requires a $249 down payment and 24 monthly payments of $114. This payment plan does not require a credit check, but it does have a $40 account setup fee and an $8 monthly “account keeping fee.” In total, BytePay will cost you $2,981.
• WonderSmile has one payment plan for people who don’t want to pay up-front. The WonderPay plan requires no credit check, but it does require a $538 down payment for all-day alignment or a $552 down payment for nighttime aligners. With this plan, you’ll pay the rest of the total treatment price split up into 12 monthly payments.

It’s nice to see that neither of these companies requires a credit check to access their financing plans, especially when so many of their competitors do. WonderSmile and Byte both do a nice job of presenting their customers with affordable payment plans.

Free Extras

Everybody loves free stuff, and you’ll often find that at-home alignment companies will throw in some bonus features to give you more bang for your buck. For instance, Byte includes your first set of retainers and a whitening kit at no extra charge. It’s a welcome addition to your alignment package, especially when you consider that WonderSmile makes you pay $99 per set of retainers, and they don’t offer whitening solutions at all.

Convenience Comparison

The fact that neither Byte nor WonderSmile ever requires you to set foot in a dentist’s or orthodontist’s office means they’re both quite convenient options. But how do these companies compare to each other and the rest of their competitors in this crucial category?

Getting Started

The first step of any teeth alignment process is to get high-quality images of your teeth to your care team so they can assess your smile and create your alignment plan. However, this step looks quite different depending on which of these companies you choose.

WonderSmile gives customers a choice of whether they want to make impressions of their own teeth at home using a DIY mold-making kit or visit one of their nine retail locations across Australia, where a professional will scan your teeth for you. With Byte, you only have the option to make your own molds, as they have no retail locations available.

Teeth Whitening

Byte provides customers with a complimentary bottle of their BrightByte whitening solution (a $49 value), which you can dispense into your aligners to whiten your teeth as you align them. Unfortunately, WonderSmile does not offer whitening products.

Nighttime-Only Option

For some people, wearing clear aligners for 22 hours per day is no big deal. However, if you’re frequently on the go, with lots of important meetings and outings, you might be looking for something more convenient. That’s why both Byte and WonderSmile offer nighttime alignment plans that only require you to wear your aligners for ten hours per day.

These plans require you to wear your aligners for more total months in exchange for reducing your daily wear time. With Byte, you can complete nighttime alignment in 5-6 months, while WonderSmile’s NightClear option takes roughly nine months.

Appearance Comparison

No matter which company you choose, clear aligners always look better than braces. That said, there is actually quite a bit of variance between the aligners offered by different companies. Some manufacturers use an entirely clear transparent plastic to make their aligners, while others use a frosted plastic that has a translucent look.

Some people prefer one over the other, and we certainly have our own preferences in this area as well, so let’s dive a bit deeper and see what sets these companies apart when it comes to aligner appearance. As you’re about to see, there is very little differentiating Byte’s aligners from WonderSmile’s.

Aligner Material

As it turns out, your “clear” aligners may or may not actually be clear. Some companies — including Byte and WonderSmile — use transparent plastic, while some other competitors use frosted plastic. Somewhat surprisingly, the translucent frosted aligners look more natural, in our opinion.

This is because completely clear aligners glisten and gleam when light hits them, which can look quite unnatural. Your teeth naturally have a matte finish to them, so frosted plastic actually does a better job of replicating the appearance of your real teeth.

At the end of the day, both Byte and WonderSmile use nearly identical clear plastic aligners, so we don’t have a preference between them in this area.

Straight Cut vs. Scalloped

We briefly discussed this in the “Effectiveness” comparison, but we’ll mention once again that both WonderSmile and Byte cut their aligners straight across the gums, allowing them to exert more force on your teeth compared to scalloped-cut aligners that match your gumline.

However, we have a slight preference for scalloped aligners from an appearance standpoint, as this style of cut is a bit less noticeable because there isn’t any plastic covering your gums.

Stain Resistance

WonderSmile and Byte have aligners that are at least somewhat resistant to staining, but we wouldn’t take our chances. You probably shouldn’t eat or drink anything other than water while wearing your aligners, as any staining may mean that you have to wear stained aligners until you’re ready to switch to your next set.

Customer Service Comparison

If anything goes wrong with your alignment process — or if you just have some questions you’d like answers to — you want to have the peace of mind that your alignment company has your back. Let’s discuss the details of what these two companies have to offer in the area of customer support.

Support Options

Both of these companies provide access to customer support through the same typical channels. You can contact them via phone or email, or you can contact them through social media. Regardless of how you choose to reach out, their support reps always respond quickly in our experience.

Keep in mind that only WonderSmile has a monthly digital check-in program where you will provide your WonderSmile dental professional with pictures of your teeth. Together, you’ll discuss plans for the next month and whether any changes need to be made to your alignment plan.

Responsiveness and Helpfulness

We were able to track down hundreds of customer reviews for both Byte and WonderSmile. The vast majority of these reviews are positive and backed up our own experiences with their customer support teams. While there are some isolated instances of unsatisfied customers, most of them seem to agree that these companies both have very responsive and helpful support teams.

In our opinion, Byte and WonderSmile both provide timely support from knowledgeable representatives. We have never asked their support reps a question they’re unable to answer, so we give them both high marks in this category.

Satisfaction Guarantee

Both Byte and WonderSmile offer refunds of your impression kit or teeth scan if they determine that you are not a good candidate for their alignment services. Furthermore, either company will do everything they can to assist you if you encounter any problems along the way, or need to make any changes or adjustments to your alignment plan.

However, Byte stands out in this area due to the Byte for Life Guarantee. This guarantee promises that you’ll be satisfied with your alignment for life, and if you ever feel like your teeth need further adjustments, they will do whatever they can to make you a happy customer — even years down the road! WonderSmile does not have a comparable guarantee, so this is a nice advantage for Byte.

Company Backgrounds

Neither of these companies has as much experience as Invisalign or SmileDirectClub, but they’ve both aligned thousands of smiles and earned rock-solid reputations.

One big difference between them is that WonderSmile has retail locations across Australia, whereas Byte does not. WonderSmile’s nine locations allow their customers to choose between at-home molds and an in-person teeth scan.

Overall, these are both excellent companies that we completely trust. We would never hesitate to recommend either of them to our family and friends. They have some differences in the way they offer their at-home alignment services, but they’re both capable of providing fantastic results.

Which Home Teeth Aligner Should You Use?

There are quite a few common characteristics of Byte and WonderSmile, so it can be difficult to figure out which one is the right choice for you. If you’re still undecided, we’ll quickly outline a couple of scenarios that may lead you to choose one over the other.