EZ Smile vs. Byte: An Honest Comparison

For many years, the only options to straighten your teeth were braces and Invisalign. But when companies began delivering clear aligners to customers’ homes, it changed the game. These at-home aligners provided a path to straighter teeth without a single office visit, and two of the most intriguing options are Byte and EZ Smile. While they’re both highly affordable, convenient alternatives to traditional orthodontics, they’re completely different companies, each ideal for different people and situations.

This comparison article will examine several key parts of each company’s at-home clear aligner service to help you determine which one is the better option for you.

Overview and Recommendation: Byte Wins

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We think that either of these companies will do a great job of aligning your smile, and we’ll confidently recommend them both. Still, we think Byte has some advantages over EZ Smile.

• The HyperByte Device: There’s evidence that the gentle micropulses from high-frequency vibration devices like the HyperByte can reduce discomfort and encourage faster dental shifts for some customers. Byte includes the HyperByte in the cost of every treatment plan.
• Nighttime-Only Treatment: If wearing aligners for 22+ hours a day sounds daunting or doesn’t work with your schedule, Byte offers a nighttime-only plan called Byte At-Night. It only requires ten consecutive hours of daily wear. EZ Smile doesn’t have a comparable option.
• Lifetime Guarantee: The Byte for Life Guarantee ensures your smile for as long as you live. If your teeth shift after your alignment process — even decades down the road — Byte will create new aligners to fix them (as long as you purchase two sets of their retainers every year).

Is Byte Right for You?

Byte tops our list of the best at-home teeth alignment companies in Australia, and EZ Smile is right behind them in second place. The best treatment for you depends on your smile and priorities, but we think Byte’s technology, extensive guarantees, and top-notch customer service make them a fantastic option for anyone with a mild-to-moderate misalignment.

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Effectiveness Comparison

When evaluating at-home aligners, the all-important question is: do they work? Choose EZ Smile or Byte and the answer is a resounding yes. Both companies use high-quality materials and can reliably make cosmetic changes to your alignment. They don’t possess the power or versatility of Invisalign, since they don’t incorporate any office visits or attachments, but if you’ve got a milder misalignment, either company can achieve the smile you want.

Manufacturing Quality

EZ Smile doesn’t disclose exactly who manufactures their aligners, but they say they’re produced in China by “one of the leading clear aligner manufacturers in the world.” This producer has already aligned over 200,000 smiles, so their products should be fairly high quality.

In late 2020, Byte was acquired by Dentsply Sirona, a reputable dental manufacturing company that makes cleaning instruments, scanning machines, retainers, and virtually any other dental equipment you can imagine. So you can be sure that Byte’s products are trustworthy and well-designed.

Clinical Oversight

In-person clear aligner treatments like Invisalign typically involve office visits every 4–6 weeks, and certain at-home aligner services have attempted to replicate this oversight with remote monitoring. Byte recommends that every customer use the My Byte app to upload photos of their teeth every two weeks, but they only require it for people with certain conditions. If you choose to complete every suggested upload, you’ll have some pretty robust oversight. If not, you won’t have any.

EZ Smile only requires one photo check-in — at the midway point of your treatment. This approach is not nearly as robust as in-person support, but even limited remote oversight can offer up some peace of mind. If anything seems off, EZ Smile’s team can catch it at the midway point and course correct.

Aligner Cut

Byte cuts their aligners straight across your gums, while EZ Smile trims theirs to fit each customer’s unique gum line. While many people say “scalloped” aligners like EZ Smile’s are more discreet, straight-cut aligners can grip the gums, using that leverage to exert more force on the teeth.

Technology

Both companies use the latest software solutions and 3D printing technology to produce their aligners. However, only Byte provides customers with the HyperByte — a handheld device intended to reduce discomfort and accelerate tooth movement. Byte also designs their aligners with a software called Smile Science, which considers all your facial features when crafting your perfect smile. EZ Smile’s software still creates effective aligner plans, but it’s not quite as comprehensive.

Affordability Comparison

At-home aligners have skyrocketed in popularity in part because they’re a lot cheaper than traditional orthodontics, often costing thousands less than Invisalign or braces. However, pricing models vary between companies, and even though both Byte and EZ Smile are both relatively affordable, EZ Smile is more budget-friendly thanks to their lower prices, multiple financing options, and free retainers.

Sticker Price

EZ Smile’s $2,499 price point is a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the $2,749 you’ll pay for Byte. And even though EZ Smile doesn’t offer night-only alignments, their all-day plan is $900 cheaper than Byte At-Night, which costs $3,399. Plus, EZ Smile frequently offers discounts on their website that we’ve seen take up to $200 off.

Beyond the sticker price, both EZ Smile and Byte provide customers with one set of aftercare retainers for free, while many of their competitors charge $99 or more per set. Byte and EZ Smile also have very similar prices on their impression kits. Byte charges $95, while EZ Smile charges $99 — and both companies will refund your impressions if they determine that you’re not a suitable candidate for treatment.

Payment Plan Options

Are you unable or unwilling to pay for your entire alignment up-front? No problem. EZ Smile and Byte both have payment plans available that can make your alignment much more financially manageable.

Byte offers payment plans through Humm, a third-party financing company. The rates for these plans depend on whether you choose their All-Day or At-Night plan. The All-Day plan includes fortnightly payments of $54.02 for 24 months, while the At-Night plan requires fortnightly payments of $66.52 for 24 months.

EZ Smile offers three different options:

• Zip Money: You’ll need to pass a credit check to qualify for this interest-free plan, but if you do, you’ll pay $48.06 per week for 52 weeks.
• EZ Installments: You’ll pay a $499 deposit, followed by 52 weekly payments of $45. This plan does not require a credit check and costs a total of $2,839.
• Humm: This interest-free plan doesn’t require a deposit, but it does have a credit check. If you qualify, you can either pay $208.25/month for 12 months or $104.13/month for 24 months.

We appreciate how both companies have multiple financing options. The only drawback is that some of these plans end up costing more than the upfront sticker price.

Free Extras

Many teeth alignment companies sweeten the deal by providing free bonus items, and EZ Smile and Byte are no exception. These companies both include your first set of post-alignment retainers for free, saving you around a hundred bucks compared to some competitors. Plus, they both throw in whitening products so you can brighten your smile for free while you align it.

Convenience Comparison

Compared to traditional orthodontics, both EZ Smile and Byte are much less of a hassle. After all, these companies will never require you to set foot in a dentist or orthodontist’s office, whereas Invisalign and braces both require regular in-office check-ups. But office visits are only one aspect of convenience, and even though it’s simple to get started with EZ Smile, Byte goes above and beyond to make treatment easy for their customers.

Getting Started

With any teeth-straightening treatment, the first step is the same: provide the aligner company with high-quality images of your teeth. This allows them to evaluate whether you’re a candidate for their alignment service, and if so, create your treatment preview.

One option is to purchase either company’s impression kit and use it to make molds of your teeth at home. However, they need to be precise, and some customers find it difficult to make perfect impressions on the first try.

That’s why EZ Smile also partners with 13 dentists across Australia to offer professional in-office teeth scans as an alternative. If you’re worried creating molds will be a messy hassle, you can have a professional scan your teeth instead. Byte, however, has no office locations, so you’ll need to purchase their impression kit.

Treatment Time

EZ Smile says their average treatment time is 4–8 months. Byte says their treatment plans are typically 4–5 months long (or 5–6 for their nighttime plan). They attribute that in part to the HyperByte, which they say might accelerate tooth movement for some customers. Ultimately, your treatment might take longer or shorter, depending on the severity of your misalignment. The more complex the case, the longer it takes to correct.

These timelines are much shorter than in-office options, which often take 12–18 months. Just remember that Invisalign and braces take longer because they take on more severe misalignments, while at-home aligners stick to milder cases.

Nighttime-Only Option

EZ Smile only offers all-day alignment, which requires you to wear your aligners for roughly 22 hours per day, every day. Byte provides another option: their Byte At-Night plan.

Byte A-Night only requires customers to wear aligners for ten consecutive hours each day, typically while you sleep. Byte claims these plans are 5–6 months long, on average. That’s slightly longer than Byte’s all-day plans, but the option to only wear your aligners at night can be convenient for anyone with a lot of meetings and social engagements — or who doesn’t want to remove their aligners every time they eat or drink.

But this convenience comes at a cost. Byte At-Night costs $650 more than their all-day alignment plans.

Appearance Comparison

All clear aligners look far more natural than metal braces. That said, you might be surprised by how much aligner appearance can vary between companies. Everyone has different tastes, so even though Byte and EZ Smile produce fairly similar aligners, which design looks best depends on your personal preferences.

Aligner Material

Both Byte and EZ Smile use smooth, transparent plastic to manufacture their aligners. You might think that entirely clear aligners are less visible, but this isn’t always the case. Your teeth are porous, so they naturally look matte and slightly textured. By comparison, smooth, transparent plastic can look artificially reflective and shiny.

Frosted, textured plastic actually does a much better job of replicating the natural appearance of your teeth, since it doesn’t reflect light nearly as much as Byte and EZ Smile’s transparent ones. We should note, however, that some people prefer a little extra shine in their smile, so they like this reflectiveness.

Aligner Cut

Byte cuts their aligners straight across your gums, which makes them more powerful, but also more noticeable, since people might see where they overlap your gums when you’re laughing or smiling wide.

On the other hand, EZ Smile cuts their aligners to match each customer’s unique gumline. This results in a slightly less powerful aligner, but it’s also less noticeable since there’s no plastic covering your gums.

Attachments

In-person treatments like Invisalign can correct severe misalignments in part because they let dentists place attachments on your teeth. These give the aligners more leverage and power, but also make them more visible. Since dentists affix attachments during office visits, Byte and EZ Smile can’t use them. That might decrease their effectiveness, but it also means you won’t have any extra hardware in your mouth.

Stain Resistance

While Byte and EZ Smile make fairly stain-resistant aligners, we would still never recommend eating or drinking while wearing them. Drinking plain water is fine, but anything else can stain your aligners, and you might still need to wear them until your teeth are ready for the next set.

Customer Experience Comparison

With any at-home aligner treatment, you’ll communicate directly with the company rather than a specific dentist like you would with Invisalign. So you want a company who will provide helpful answers, address your concerns, and deliver on their promises.

In-office treatment is the gold standard for customer care, since you’ll have face-to-face interactions with dentists and staff who know you personally. It’s tough for remote services to match that individualization, and while EZ Smile does an admirable job, our impression is that Byte provides a slightly more personalized customer experience.

Support Options

You can contact either company ‌by phone, email, or social media. EZ Smile’s support representatives are available 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday, while you can reach Byte’s between 8:30am and 5pm on the same days. Byte also has an app called My Byte where you can message their customer support team.

EZ Smile and Byte both respond to messages in a timely fashion, and in our experience, their representatives are always courteous and helpful.

Responsiveness and Helpfulness

There is no shortage of customer reviews for either EZ Smile or Byte, as each company has hundreds of reviews available online. So it’s easy to confirm that our own experiences are similar to those of most Byte and EZ Smile customers.

These companies both receive tremendous customer feedback, with nearly perfect average ratings across their hundreds of reviews. Customers frequently compliment their timely support and mention support reps by name. They both have the occasional customer who was unhappy with their results, but overall, it seems like these companies provide a high-quality customer experience.

Satisfaction Guarantee

Byte and EZ Smile both provide a full refund for your teeth scan or impression kit if you’re not a suitable candidate for treatment. And if you reach the end of your aligner plan, but your smile doesn’t match the one from your treatment preview, each company will create free refinement aligners to finish the job. For EZ Smile, just make sure you submit your refinement request and photos of your teeth within two weeks of finishing treatment.

EZ Smile also offers a 90-day satisfaction guarantee which promises to provide a refund any time during your first 90 days of treatment, and for any reason (minus a $300 treatment planning fee). That’s one of the industry’s most extensive refund policies.

Byte, however, puts a lifetime guarantee on your smile. This Byte-for-Life Guarantee promises to create new aligners if your teeth ever shift out of place — even years down the road — as long as you’ve purchased two sets of retainers per year and worn them as directed.

Company Backgrounds

Neither of these companies has a lengthy history, as they were both formed in the late 2010s. Still, both companies have great reputations as high-quality at-home aligner providers.

Founded in 2018 in the US, Byte has taken impressive steps in reducing treatment times and prioritizing customer service. Co-founder and Chief Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Jon Marashi has a star-studded portfolio of A-list patients, but started Byte to bring his Hollywood-tested treatments to the mainstream. They’re making waves with their innovative technology and exemplary customer support, and have quickly become one of the industry’s top competitors. They made their first foray into international markets in 2020 by expanding to Australia.

Based in Sydney, EZ Smile began as “a partnership between highly experienced dental industry professionals and marketing experts.” They partner with 13 dental offices across Australia, plus an experienced and reputable dental laboratory that has successfully treated more than 200,000 cases worldwide. Over just a few years in business, they’ve distinguished themselves with their low prices, flexible financing options, and Australia-based customer support team.

Which Home Teeth Aligner Should You Use?

EZ Smile and Byte are both excellent options, so we wouldn’t be surprised if you’re still unsure. To help you decide, we’ll outline a couple of scenarios where you might prefer one over the other.

We Recommend Byte for Most Readers

We think both of these companies are excellent options for teeth alignment, and that you’ll be a satisfied customer regardless of which one you choose. That said, in our opinion, Byte is the best at-home teeth alignment company in Australia.