We all want a dazzling smile, but sometimes, it’s just too expensive or inconvenient. That’s why many adults in the UK are looking to companies that deliver affordable clear aligner treatment straight to your home — and one of the newest and most exciting is SmileCo.
They offer remote, dentist-directed orthodontic treatment for much lower prices than traditional methods. But although they’re an attractive option, they’re not the only one. Determining if their service is right for you takes diligent research, and we’ve done it all for you. By the end of this guide, you’ll have all the info you need to decide if SmileCo is the best solution for your smile.
Table of Contents
What Is SmileCo?
Dr. Biju Krishnan has spent over 20 years transforming smiles for his patients including celebrities like Billie Faiers, Holly Willoughby, Alexandra Burke, and former Miss Singapore Dalreena Poonam Gill. And in recent years, he’s brought his cosmetic dentistry expertise to a broader remote clientele with SmileCo.
In doing so, he joined a new crop of companies offering clear aligner treatment similar to Invisalign, but typically without any of the trips to the dentist’s office. They might be newer than competitors like SmileDirectClub, but they’ve already earned a following thanks to their affordable prices, remote monitoring, and efficient treatment plans.
Like other home aligner treatments, SmileCo is mainly for mild and moderate cases of crowding and spacing. They can also treat certain minor bite misalignments, but it depends entirely on your specific case. After you submit impressions of your teeth or visit a clinic for a dental scan, they’ll let you know if you’re a suitable candidate for treatment.
How Does SmileCo Work?
Before SmileCo can create custom aligners for your teeth, they need to determine if those aligners can address your specific misalignments. So you’ll need to order an impression kit or schedule an appointment for a dental scan at one of their clinics.
If SmileCo’s dentists are confident their aligners will work for you, they’ll send you a digital preview of your treatment plan. Like what you see? Give the OK and they’ll use your impressions or scans to create a series of aligners, each one designed to shift your teeth a tiny bit.
You’ll wear these aligners for 22+ hours per day (or ten hours per day with their nighttime-only plan), switching aligner sets around every two weeks, and over the next 3–7 months, your teeth will slowly move into their new positions. Every two weeks, you’ll submit photos of your teeth via the DentalMonitoring app so SmileCo’s team can make sure everything looks good and provide feedback, if necessary.
Pros and Cons of SmileCo
Every at-home aligner company has its selling points, but none of them are perfect. You have to take the good with the bad, and it’s all about figuring out which company’s features match your goals and priorities. Here are SmileCo’s most significant pros and cons.
Pros
- At £1,399, SmileCo’s price isn’t the industry’s lowest, but it’s more affordable than some at-home competitors, and far more accessible than braces or Invisalign.
- SmileCo says their average treatment plan is just 3–6 months long (or 4–7 months for nighttime-only treatment), which is a shorter average than most in-office options.
- Photo check-ins every two weeks via the DentalMonitoring app help SmileCo’s team keep your treatment on track.
- If you reach the end of your treatment and your teeth don’t match your initial preview, SmileCo will provide a refinement for free.
- They include whitening and two sets of aftercare retainers in the cost of their aligner package.
Cons
- SmileCo barely has any reviews online, so it’s difficult to get an unbiased look at their typical customer experience.
- It’s unclear who manufactures SmileCo’s aligners and who creates their treatment plans.
- SmileCo doesn’t offer any returns or refunds after you’ve ordered your aligner treatment, while other companies issue full refunds within 30 days of your order.
Do the Pros Outweigh the Cons?
We think so. If you’re in the market for an affordable and convenient treatment for your mild crowding or spacing, SmileCo could be a great option — as long as you don’t mind working with a younger company.
Effectiveness
Features and extras are great, but they don’t matter unless the clear aligners actually work. You want to know that you’re getting quality results for your money — otherwise, it’s not worth it. And from what we can tell, SmileCo delivers on their promises. They can’t handle severe cases like Invisalign and other in-office aligners, but they excel at the cases they can treat, providing satisfying smile shifts and consistent oversight.
SmileCo says a licensed dentist will be involved in your treatment, but it’s unclear how involved.
According to their website, “all treatment will be carried out with the involvement of one of our experienced aligner dentists.” That should provide some comfort, since you’ll have a certified expert with eyes on your progress. However, they don’t specify who creates your initial treatment plan or reviews your biweekly photo submissions.
We assume that it’s the dentist assigned to your case, or at least dental technician with oversight and approval from the dentist, so it’s certainly not cause for alarm. Plus, they say the head dentist, Dr. Biju Krishnan, formulates and tests all their products to provide the best possible patient experience.
SmileCo doesn’t reveal who manufactures their aligners.
Some companies manufacture their aligners in-house, while others have manufacturing partnerships with large dental supply companies. SmileCo doesn’t say where they produce their aligners, just that they use BPA-free, medical-grade polymers. So you can be confident that the materials are safe and effective, we just don’t know who made them.
Photo check-ins every two weeks help their team track your progress and head off any potential problems.
Your aligner kit will come with a ScanBox — which attaches to your phone — and access to the DentalMonitoring app. Every two weeks, you’ll take photos of your teeth and upload them to the app for SmileCo’s dental team to review. Then, if necessary, they’ll message you with feedback.
This means dental experts will be evaluating your progress every step of the way, so they can address any minor issues before they cause serious problems. Plus, it provides some peace of mind, eliminating the nagging thoughts of “is everything going okay?” or “I hope I’m doing this right.”
Affordability
For many people, the biggest obstacle to quality orthodontic treatment is the cost. That’s why at-home options have become so popular. They offer similar results to traditional methods for a lot less money. And among at-home clear aligner services, SmileCo is pretty affordable, boasting fairly low prices, accessible financing, and a bunch of bonus items.
SmileCo’s standard aligner treatment costs £1,399, and their nighttime-only plan is £1,599.
Considering the standard, all-day aligners at some other at-home services cost £1,500 or more, and Invisalign can cost up to £5,500, that’s a pretty solid price. Plus, we’ve seen SmileCo run sales that bring it down to £1,199 for daytime treatment and £1,399 for their nighttime option.
Anyone can enroll in a financing plan to make those prices more manageable.
We don’t have £1,000+ just lying around at home, and you might not either. But that doesn’t have to stop you from getting SmileCo. They partner with Partial.ly to offer payment plans that don’t require a credit check, so everyone qualifies. Here are the details.
- Daytime Treatment: A £299 down payment, then eight monthly payments of £138 (£1,399 total).
- Nighttime Treatment: A £399 down payment, then eight monthly payments of £150 (£1,599 total).
You’ll notice that these payment plans don’t cost any more than the regular prices, which is a nice touch, since some companies have financing that includes interest.
SmileCo includes a lot of extras with your aligners.
To get started, you need to pay £65 for an impression kit or £125 for an in-person scan. But if you’re approved, you won’t just get a box of loose aligners. You’ll get everything you need for a successful treatment. They include free whitening products, a ScanBox to help you take quality photos of your teeth, and two sets of aftercare retainers, which often cost £100 or more from other companies.
After you’ve finished with your last set of aligners, if your teeth don’t match your original preview, they’ll throw in refinement aligners for free too.
Convenience
In the remote orthodontia field, convenience is the name of the game. It’s a large part of what inspired the at-home aligner revolution. Quality care with few to no dentist appointments? Busy adults are saying, “sign me up.” But while all at-home aligner services are more convenient than their in-office counterparts, some have gone the extra mile to offer easy and accessible care, and SmileCo is one of them.
You’ve got two different ways to get started: impression kits and in-person scans.
Customized aligners require detailed images of your teeth, which can be tough when you’re hundreds of miles away from your dentists. To solve this problem, most remote aligner companies sell impression kits — trays and putty you can use to make molds of your teeth. These are definitely convenient, since you can complete them without leaving your home, but some people also find them difficult, taking multiple tries to create good enough impressions.
If you’re shuddering at the thought of sinking your teeth into putty, SmileCo has you covered. They have clinics where a professional will scan your teeth for you, ensuring you get perfect images on the first try. However, they only have four locations, so if you don’t live near one, you’ll need to order an impression kit.
SmileCo can produce and ship your aligners in as few as 1–2 weeks.
That’s fast. After you approve your treatment plan and pay for your aligners, most companies have a turnaround time of at least three weeks for manufacturing and delivery. But SmileCo produces their aligners in the UK and according to their website, they could arrive at your door just seven days after you place your order.
Their average initial treatment plan is 3–6 months, or 4–7 months with nighttime aligners.
Because they only accept mild and moderate cases, SmileCo’s treatment often doesn’t take long. In fact, they might even take less time than their at-home aligner competitors. Most companies’ treatment plans are around 4–6 months, so there’s a chance that your SmileCo treatment could wrap up sooner.
However, it all depends on your condition. The more severe your misalignment, the longer it will take to correct. After you submit impressions or teeth scans, SmileCo will create a plan, which will include an estimated treatment length. And if you end up needing a refinement, that will extend the timeline.
If you don’t want to wear your aligners all day, SmileCo offers a nighttime-only plan.
Standard clear aligner plans require 22+ hours of daily wear. For some people, that’s too much. To make treatment more flexible and accessible for these customers, SmileCo offers a nighttime-only aligner series. Selecting this plan means that you’ll only need to wear your clear aligners for ten continuous hours per day, presumably while you sleep.
With this plan, you won’t have to wear them to work, school, or other public places, and you won’t have to remove them to eat and drink — unless you’re a big midnight snacker.
Appearance
When the first clear aligners hit the market, people flocked to them. Why? Primarily because they offered a much less noticeable alternative to braces. They’re not totally invisible, but they get pretty close. Even so, every company designs their aligners differently, and SmileCo’s might be very slightly more visible than some others.
SmileCo crafts their aligners with clear plastic and a smooth finish.
You might think that would make your trays less noticeable, but that’s not always the case. Look at your teeth in the mirror, and you’ll see they aren’t overly shiny. That’s because they’re covered in tiny pores, giving them a matte exterior.
Smooth, reflective plastic doesn’t match those natural surfaces, so SmileCo’s aligners might look more artificially shiny than the frosted, textured ones some competitors make. However, some people like these aligners put a little shine in their smile, so it’s just a matter of personal taste.
SmileCo’s aligners overlap the gums just a little bit.
People nearby might notice this overlap when you laugh or smile wide. However, it also lets the aligners leverage your gums to exert up to four times more force. Scalloped aligners that are trimmed to match your gum line are less visible, but they’re also less effective.
Because they can’t incorporate attachments, SmileCo’s aligners are less visible than many in-office options.
When administering Invisalign, a dentist can incorporate elastics and special attachments that help their scalloped aligners make more intricate teeth movements. Attachments make the aligners more effective, but also increase their visibility.
Since home aligners like SmileCo don’t involve in-person office visits, these attachments are not possible. But that also means there’s no extra hardware on your teeth.
Customer Experience
It’s totally fine to have questions and concerns throughout your treatment. Many people do. And you want a company that will handle them with empathy and deliver on their promises. In-person care is the gold standard here, but at-home treatments have made an admirable effort to replicate that care remotely, and SmileCo appears to serve their customers well.
You can contact SmileCo via phone, email, WhatsApp, and web chat.
They don’t list their customer support hours anywhere, so we can’t suggest any specific times to callOne thing to note here: when we tried their web chat feature, it asked for an email address and phone number, but after we entered them, it didn’t allow for any further messages. That said, online reviewers seem to appreciate the responsiveness and friendliness of their support staff.
You’ll receive feedback from their dental team through the DentalMonitoring app.
As we mentioned earlier, you’ll upload photos of your teeth every two weeks throughout your treatment. After reviewing your photos, the dentist assigned to your case will send comments and guidance.
Even though you’ll have consistent contact with their team through this app, it’s not a one-on-one chat with your dentist. If you have questions, you should take them to one of the customer support channels.
SmileCo doesn’t offer any refunds, but they’ll provide free refinements.
The human body can be unpredictable, so sometimes, treatments don’t work the way we’d hoped, and that’s true of orthodontic care too. So there’s a small chance that your results might not match your original treatment preview. Since SmileCo will have eyes on your teeth throughout the process, it’s unlikely, but still possible.
The good news is that SmileCo will keep working with you, creating additional aligners for free to finish the job. However, if at any point you want to return your aligners for a refund, you’re out of luck.
What are SmileCo Customers Saying?
That’s all great, you might be thinking, but what about the real customers? What do they think of SmileCo? I want all the raw, unfiltered details.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many unsponsored SmileCo reviews out there, so it’s tough to get a read on the customer experience. All the reviews we found are positive. These customers specifically commented on SmileCo’s quality customer support and affordable prices, and they’ve all been satisfied with their results so far.
Just keep in mind that most of these reviews are from customers in the early or middle stages of their treatment, so we don’t have much info from people who have completed the entire process.
Best Alternatives to SmileCo
If you’ve made it this far and you’re saying “I’m in,” great. But it’s alright if you’re still unsure. After all, SmileCo is a good option, but it’s far from the only one. Here are a few other at-home aligner companies to consider.
Straight Teeth Direct vs. SmileCo
Like SmileCo, Straight Teeth Direct has a robust remote monitoring service, giving them excellent effectiveness and customer support. Plus, they guarantee their results by providing five months of extra aligners to achieve your ideal smile (if necessary). They’re slightly more expensive than SmileCo, but have a longer track record of successful treatments, solid customer rapport, and more functionality in their mobile app. Straight Teeth Direct’s commitment to quality and innovative technology make them one of the best options out there.
Virtuoso vs. SmileCo
From the same parent company as Straight Teeth Direct, Virtuoso is a hybrid treatment that combines the convenience of remote monitoring with the effectiveness of office visits with a dentist. It costs more than SmileCo, but you’ll get the reassurance of in-person care and an advanced dental scope to complete your at-home check-ins.
SmileDirectClub vs. SmileCo
SmileDirectClub stands out as the largest and most popular at-home clear aligner brand. They also offer retail locations, which makes it easier to get the ball rolling, depending on where you live. They’ve also transformed over 1.5 million smiles so far, making them the most experienced home aligner company on the market. SmileCo has lower prices, but if your priority is proven results and a long track record of success, however, check out SmileDirectClub.
Is SmileCo Right for You?
If you’re looking for quality treatment with consistent remote oversight for an affordable price — and don’t mind the lack of customer reviews out there — SmileCo might be a great choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can SmileCo correct my misalignment?
It depends. SmileCo is effective in treating mild and moderate cases of crowding and spacing, but it might not be able to correct jaw misalignments like overbite, underbite, crossbite, etc. The only way to know for sure is to complete an impression kit or visit one of their clinics for dental scans. After evaluating your teeth, SmileCo’s team will let you know if their aligners will work for your condition.
How do I get started with SmileCo?
Before anything else, SmileCo’s dental team needs to examine your teeth. You can either purchase and complete an impression kit for £65 or get a dental scan at one of their clinics for £125. They’ll use these molds or images to determine if you’re a good candidate and craft your entire treatment plan.
How long does SmileCo treatment take?
SmileCo’s average treatment plan is 3–6 months long (or 4–7 months for their nighttime plan). But don’t mark it on your calendar just yet. Your treatment could take shorter or longer depending on the severity of your condition.
How does SmileCo compare to Invisalign?
Invisalign has its own set of unique benefits, most notably in-person care. During regular face-to-face checkups, your dentist or orthodontist can make adjustments to your treatment and add attachments that allow Invisalign to treat a wider scope of cases. SmileCo is more convenient and less expensive, but Invisalign is a great option if your condition is severe or you’d prefer to meet with your dentist in person.
Is home aligner treatment safe?
Yes! While administering treatment from home might seem daunting, the process is very safe. Home aligner companies use state-licensed dentists and orthodontists to create your treatment plan and design your aligners. Even though you won’t meet with them in-person, each company offers robust customer support services if something doesn’t feel quite right.
Does insurance cover SmileCo treatment?
The UK’s public healthcare does not often cover orthodontic care for adults. It may provide coverage if the treatment is necessary for health reasons, but this is rarely the case for home aligners. If you have private insurance, you may receive partial coverage, but you’ll need to check with your provider to find out.
Do clear aligners hurt?
When you switch to a new aligner set every two weeks, you might experience some discomfort for the first day or two, but after that, you’ll hardly notice them.
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