SureSmile vs. Candid Clear Aligners: Which Is Right For You?

When clear aligners hit the mainstream in the late 90s, they were a revelation — a way to get a straighter smile without wires and brackets, making treatment more convenient, comfortable, and better looking. Ever since, clear aligner companies have been developing new ways to improve treatment, and we think SureSmile and Candid are two of the industry’s most intriguing brands.

These treatments might seem similar, but dive deeper and you’ll find a wealth of differences. So, which provider is right for your smile? Let’s find out!

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In our opinion, SureSmile and Candid both offer high-quality aligner treatment, but for mild and moderate cases, we love Candid. Here’s why.

1. Hybrid Treatment: Unlike SureSmile, Candid treatment blends the reassurance of in-person care with the convenience of remote oversight. Typically, Candid only requires two dental office visits — one at the beginning and one at the end. In between, your dentist and Candid’s team will track your progress virtually via Candid’s remote monitoring system (CandidMonitoring) and request additional appointments if any issues arise.
2. Multifaceted Support: Between your local dentist and Candid’s support team (accessible seven days a week via the Candid app), Candid treatment comes with an abundance of support from start to finish, giving you both in-person care and remote assistance.

Is Candid Right for You?

The best clear aligner treatment for you depends on your unique condition, goals, and budget. But if you’re looking for a mix of in-person care and at-home treatment, Candid could be a solid option.

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SureSmile and Candid: The Basics

SureSmile might not yet be a household name, but it is actually one of Invisalign’s biggest in-office competitors. While it’s easy to assume lesser-known means lesser treatment, that’s not true here. When they got their start in 1998, SureSmile made waves by creating a more responsive archwire for lingual braces. They started making clear aligners in 2007 and have fine-tuned them over the years.

Much like SureSmile was one of the first challengers to Invisalign, Candid was the original competition for another industry giant — SmileDirectClub. They originally offered fully remote treatment, but shifted to a hybrid treatment model in early 2022. Today, they’re one of the largest clear aligner producers on the market.

SureSmile can treat just about any misalignment you throw at it, but it also requires regular office visits with your provider throughout the average 6-18-month timeline. While reassuring, these routine office visits can also be time-consuming, which isn’t ideal if your schedule is already packed.

Candid’s model is more streamlined. You’ll begin with in-person care from a local provider, and that dentist — in collaboration with Candid’s team — will oversee much of your treatment remotely. They say the process typically takes 8.5 months and can cost less too, but it’s designed to correct milder cases, so it might not be a viable option for everyone.

Scope of Treatment Comparison

We think SureSmile and Candid are both great options for adult patients who want to address misalignments and start smiling with confidence. Hundreds of thousands of people have used them, and most are loving their results. But to achieve success with either brand, your case has to be one they can handle.

What SureSmile and Candid Treat

Dentsply Sirona, the makers of SureSmile, say their aligners can address most orthodontic conditions, including class I, II, and III malocclusions. Among the issues they treat are:

• Crowded teeth
• Gapped teeth
• Overbite
• Underbite
• Crossbite
• Open bite

Candid doesn’t say much about their treatment scope on their website, but their dental partners do. Based on multiple Candid provider websites, they can help with the following:

• Mild-to-moderate crowding
• Snaggletooth
• Mild-to-moderate spacing
• Mild-to-moderate overbite or overjet
• Underbite
• Crossbite

Both SureSmile and Candid can incorporate attachments, which can give aligners better control and a higher range orthodontic tooth movement, according to a 2023 study reviewed by our non-clinical team. Plus, both treatments can move all the teeth, even widening the arches when necessary. SureSmile also lets your doctor decide on the trim of your aligners, so they can tailor it to your misalignment.

What SureSmile and Candid Customers Say

There are a few patient testimonials on their SureSmile website, but we prefer unsponsored video reviews on YouTube. These testimonials affirm SureSmile’s claims regarding treatment scope — even patients with complex cases report satisfaction with their results most of the time.

We’ve seen numerous Candid reviews, including some that customers shared directly with us, but most come from before the transition to hybrid care, and well before the recent addition of attachments. This means they don’t reflect their current scope of treatment. Hopefully, we’ll see CandidPro reviews start popping up soon.

Clinical Oversight

In-office aligners center on hands-on treatment and direct oversight, and that includes SureSmile. A complex case might need a check-up every 4 weeks; a simple one, perhaps every ten weeks. Candid starts with an office visit, and ends with one too. In between, everything is remote. You’ll check in every 14 days through their app, using the ScanBox to take images of your teeth. Then Candid’s AI analyzes your images. If the algorithm notices something isn’t right, it will alert your dentist so they can figure out the next steps to take.

While we are not dental professionals, we have reviewed several studies which suggest remote monitoring can be accurate enough for clinical applications and can accurately assess linear movements.

Quality of Materials

SureSmile uses Essix ACE, a dental-grade plastic that’s trusted for use in orthodontic aligners. Candid makes their aligners from Zendura tri-layer FLX plastic, which Zendura states retains 50+% more orthodontic force over time than some other materials. In both cases, these are durable materials that can generate the pressure needed to move the teeth.

Affordability Comparison

A straight smile can give you boosted confidence, reduced jaw pain, and improved dental health. Those are all important, but you don’t want to sacrifice your financial wellbeing to get them. SureSmile and Candid are both more expensive than some other clear aligner options, especially at-home ones like Byte, but we think they still offer pretty decent value.

Sticker Price

Neither SureSmile nor Candid has a set sticker price because your doctor will set the price, and it can vary based on the complexity of your case.

SureSmile has two plans: Complete and Select. Complete includes all the aligners you need for three years, so it’s typically a better value if you have a complex case. The Select plan charges per aligner, making it a good option for anyone with a milder misalignment. The plan you get depends on which your dentist offers and which they think will work best for you. While most people will pay around $4,000 for SureSmile treatment, their price range is $2,000–$6,000.

Candid has one system, and it provides all the aligners you need. Most doctors charge at least $3,500 for the system, but that price includes the CandidMonitoring equipment, virtual supervision, and office visits.

What About Insurance?

If you have dental insurance with orthodontic benefits, it should cover at least part of your SureSmile treatment — as long as you work with an in-network dentist. Just be sure to bring your insurance card with you to your initial appointment.

Candid’s insurance process is the same. Just give your insurance information to your provider’s billing department and they will determine how to maximize your benefits.

On top of your insurance policy, you can apply HSA and FSA funds towards treatment. Talk to your account administrator for information on using these funds on clear aligner treatment.

Financing Options

Once again, SureSmile and Candid are quite similar here. Both have high enough price tags that paying upfront could be difficult, and both require you to go through your doctor for financing. The good news is that many dental offices offer payment plans, and usually with better terms than third-party financiers. If financing is important to you, be sure to ask your dentist about your options.

Convenience Comparison

You juggle a lot of responsibilities: seeing friends and family, paying the bills, keeping the house tidy, and (we hope) a little self-care. When you actually have a moment of free time, you don’t want to fill it with a dentist’s appointment. By incorporating remote monitoring, we think Candid has made their treatment more streamlined and convenient than comprehensive in-office options like SureSmile and Invisalign.

Getting Started

In our opinion, the startup process for either company is pretty simple: find a provider and schedule your initial consultation. During this appointment, your doctor will assess your alignment concerns, take diagnostic scans and other images, and if you are a good fit, send everything to the aligner company.

Even though the procedures are the same, you might find it easier to get started with SureSmile, depending on where you live. Candid is still pretty new to the hybrid model and although they have over 800 partner dentists, there are large swaths of the country without a provider. SureSmile is available nearly everywhere, even in smaller cities and suburbs.

The Office Visit Trade-Off

With SureSmile, you’ll have two start-up visits, regular visits throughout treatment, and an appointment to wrap things up. That means you’ll see your dentist several times throughout the process. Candid often only requires two office visits: one at the beginning and another at the end. Your dentist, however, can request additional appointments if they notice any problems during your virtual check-ins.

Candid’s streamlined oversight might seem more convenient, but regular office visits are essential for treating certain complex cases. If you have a severe misalignment or jaw irregularity, you might be a better fit for SureSmile instead.

How Long Does Treatment Take?

Generally speaking, an in-office treatment like SureSmile will take longer than a hybrid model like Candid. That’s usually because fully in-office treatments can correct complex cases, which simply take longer. But your doctor might choose to take things slightly slower for a variety of reasons.

SureSmile usually takes 6–18 months to achieve final results, and their average treatment timelines can be 40% shorter than braces. Candid says their average treatment plan length is 8.5 months. Just remember that’s because Candid often treats milder cases.

What About Nighttime-Only Treatment?

You don’t need to avoid any foods or drinks during your clear aligner treatment. But you do need to remove them every time you eat or drink anything besides plain water. If you are a big snacker or need a midday coffee boost, you’ll spend more time taking out your aligners, brushing your teeth, cleaning the aligners, and putting them back in.

It’s a hassle, and some aligner companies let you avoid it entirely with a nighttime-only plan. Unfortunately, neither SureSmile nor Candid have one. Your dentist might be open to drafting an alternative wear schedule, but more often than not, they’ll advise you to wear your aligners for 20–22 hours per day.

Appearance Comparison

The feature that made clear aligners famous is their invisibility. While there is nothing wrong with braces, not everyone wants brackets and wires in their smile. And although every clear aligner company makes a discreet product, each aligner looks slightly different. Consider your unique style and aesthetic preferences as you make your decision.

Aligner Material

SureSmile uses a slightly textured plastic with a shiny, clear finish. This gives them a bit of a gleam that, in our opinion, contrasts with your teeth’s natural matte surfaces. However, we think the texturing helps make them look more natural since it mimics your enamel.

Candid aligners are frosted and textured, giving them a matte finish like your natural teeth and reflecting your enamel’s minuscule bumps. As a result, we think they look more natural than SureSmile. But again, that depends on your tastes.

Aligner Cut

Some providers trim their aligners to match your gum line, which might slightly decrease their retentiveness, but it also makes them less visible. Straight-cut aligners overlap your gums, so even though they might exhibit better force transfer — according to this study identified by our non-clinical team — we think they’re also more noticeable.

SureSmile lets your doctor choose the cut that will work best for your smile, and they’ll cater it to your condition. Candid only offers a straight cut.

Supplemental Attachments

Supplemental attachments — like elastics, buttons, spacers, and engagers — help aligners make more complex tooth shifts and correct a wider scope of misalignments. But that extra hardware might also make them more noticeable. SureSmile and Candid can both use tooth-colored and clear attachments, but they’ll still make your aligners more visible.

Patient Experience Comparison

We’ve covered all the major elements of SureSmile and Candid treatments, but you can’t forget the little details in between — like oversight, refinements, and modes of communication — because they can make all the difference. Thanks to their hands-on care and consistent oversight, both of these companies appear to provide a supportive, personalized customer experience. But because they incorporate in-person appointments throughout treatment, we think SureSmile’s support is slightly more personalized.

Communication Channels

Plenty of people today flat-out dislike talking on the phone. The problem? You can only reach many dental offices by calling. So, for help with your SureSmile treatment, you might have options like text, webchat, and email — but it’s much less common.

You have the same issue if you want to contact your dentist about Candid. However, you also have the CandidMonitoring app, which gives you a direct line to the Candid remote care team. This is a live chat option, but you can also email them or even call between the hours of 9 am and 7 pm EST.

Oversight

No treatment is perfect 100% of the time, so there’s always a small chance something can go wrong. Maybe your teeth don’t shift as fast as expected, or maybe you keep forgetting to wear your aligners. There are a bunch of potential obstacles, but consistent oversight allows your dentist to catch and correct them early on.

During SureSmile treatment, you’ll need to schedule office visits around every 4–10 weeks, depending on your case and your dentist’s preferences. With Candid, you get remote oversight every 14 days, and your dentist can request additional office visits if anything seems off. An in-person exam is more likely to catch issues than reviewing photos remotely, but the frequency of those remote check-ins is also an advantage. Both companies, however, allow your dentist to make adjustments that could potentially shorten your treatment timeline.

Refund & Warranty Policies

If you’re on SureSmile’s Complete plan, you get as many aligners as you need for three years, so your dentist can provide a refinement at no extra cost. If you have the Select plan, you’ll need to pay for more aligners, but how much depends on your dentist.

You might receive a refinement at the end of your Candid treatment, but it’s up to your dentist. As long as you wore your aligners correctly, switched them on the right dates, and never missed a remote check-in, you should be eligible. But you might have to pay extra, depending on your dentist’s policies.

Which Should You Choose?

We think SureSmile and Candid both deliver high-quality aligner treatment. Each one has unique strengths and excels at treating different cases, so base your decision on your unique combination of needs and goals.