Smile Direct Club Process & Review

I know it's been a very very long time since I've updated my blog. But I've decided to update again with my process and review with Smile Direct Club.

Like many of you, I am very skeptical about this whole fix-your-teeth-without-an-orthodontist thing (and I am still very skeptical). I've been doing a lot of research before diving into this process. There are a lot of good and bad feedbacks. To summarize what I've read so far, the good goes to the result of the treatment, and the bad goes to the customer service. I'll be updating and keep you guys posted and hope this will also help you with your decision in doing this treatment or not.

MY TEETH BACKGROUND

I had done the tradition metal braces when I was 11. After the 2 years of painful treatment (while entering puberty), I decide to not wear my retainers because I hate how it bothers my sleep. I also hate how gross it is to have to take it out everytime before lunch and put it back on afterwards (I considered it NOT COOL and time-consuming at that time).
So as you may guess, my teeth moved around, and the worst thing is, it moved DRASTICALLY.

I had a complicated issue with my teeth because one of my tooth was hiding above my two front teeth and wouldn't come out. My orthodontist had to do a surgery and pull that tooth back to its place. That tooth that is not supposed to be there had gotten out of placement since I didn't wear my retainer. As you can see the picture below, my upper teeth has a huge crowding issue with that tooth step out of its zone.
Moreover, the wisdom teeth growing made crowding worse and that's why my bottom teeth starts shifting too (my bottom wisdom teeth was huge and lying flat but I got them removed last year).

SMILE DIRECT CLUB OR NOT?

I came across SDC through Groupon and since then keep seeing the ads on my facebook and google.

After some research, and looking at the prices of invisalign done at an orthodontist, I decided to order a kit and give it a try. 

The impression kit was $49 at Groupon at the time. 

I received it and immediately took the impressions. I've read the instructions on youtube and the booklet few times before I've done it. I was pretty sure I did a pretty good impression. The process was very uncomfortable though. I hated the texture of that putty and wanted to throw up during the process. I recommend you NOT to eat anything prior taking your impression kit.

I asked my husband to send the kit back the next day.

(Small incident here: Fedex would not allow me to send the package because obviously I've taken out all the base and catalyst and including that holder cup inside the box. My impression was moving around inside the box. BAD IDEA! The person asked my husband to purchase a bubble wrap and put it in before shipping).

I received an email saying that my impression kit was received and that the results will be available in the next few days.

Then it says my IMPRESSIONS WERE BAD. 

I emailed the customer service asking them to explain to me which part of the impressions were bad and if they could take pictures so I may understand what's going wrong.

They refuse to do so and just told me that the impression didn't capture my gumline. (But I was pretty sure I did bit all the way down).

After sending the email back and forth for about a month (I was also traveling), they suggested me to use the larger trays to take the impression for another $49 and promised that if this impression goes well, this $49 will go towards my treatment cost. I decide to give it another try.

And while I was waiting for my second impression kit, I received an email saying that my $49 can be refunded because they wanted me to consider SDC again. So I asked them for a refund. :)

Larger Trays

OMG! Doing the larger trays is SO MUCH MORE painful than the regular one. My mouth is actually very small while my teeth is kind of big. I can't even fit the tray inside my mouth with the putty in it.

With the time limit (they require you to mix the putty and put it into your mouth within 60 sec), I was having so much hard time. 

I was tearing the whole time when I was doing the impression, and wanted to throw up more times.

After doing this, the corner of my lips was bleeding for 2 weeks!

But this time I managed to take some pictures of the impression before sending them so I can let them know what I did if they say my impression was bad again.

After about 3 weeks, I got an email saying that my impression has been accepted and that my starter tray will be sent to me soon.

Starter Trays

When I received my starter trays, I was very excited to try them on. But I was also very confused because it did not come with any instructions. This is what it came with:

1. Starter Trays (1 for upper teeth, 1 for lower teeth)

2. 1x Outie tool

3. 2x Chewies

4. Whitening gel

5. 1x Case

I googled and found a pdf file of instructions regarding starter trays. So I read through it and followed this instructions instead. Meanwhile, I emailed SDC customer service and asked them how to use these things. The next morning I also called them to "confirm" that my starter tray fits. But it seems like they no longer require customers to call them anymore because that person did not even bother to take my name or phont number when I said I want to confrim.

https://smiledirectclub.com/static/lib/downloads/pdf/sdc-starter-tray-guide.pdf

First Day Wearing My Starter Tray. Very Excited

After Wearing the starter tray for a day. This is how bad my teeth looks. Let's hope to see a huge difference after the treatment

Thoughts so far:

I'm wearing my starter trays for a day now. Here are some of my thoughts:

- It fits perfectly. I didn't have trouble putting them in. They did not wiggle. 

They do have like 0.1mm space between my teeth and the aligner but the 
customer service representative assured that this was normal.

- I actually had a hard time taking my upper trays off my teeth. 
I can't do it without my outie tool. I think it was because of the shape of my bumped out tooth

- After wearing them several hours, I can already feel my teeth moved. 
My bite is different and they are not aligned.

- Talking with these trays are tiring and difficult. I am not pronouncing words right.

The worse thing is I had to teach so I tend to speak a lot. 
Moving my jaw was very tiring because I am so conscious about these trays being in my teeth 
and I need to project words clearly.

I had to massage my jaws after the day.

- I am still trying to figure out how am I going to take these trays out of my home 
and brush my teeth after meals.

I commute to work and I work at multiple locations. I usually have lunch in my car while I'm driving. 
I can't imaging brushing my teeth in my car at this moment.

I may have to find a bathroom everytime before I go to my next appointment, 
but this is going to be very hectic. 

I will be updating once an awhile with my progress in this treatment. 
As of today, I still did not receive my treatment plan.
Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think about 
SDC and let's help each other out here! Feel free to ask me any questions as well.
:)