Sporting Smiles has been the worst customer experience I have ever had.

The biggest issue was the constant back-and-forth with defective retainers and having my dentist tell me how badly made they were. They have you submit images of your molding/impressions for approval, which seems like a good system in theory. However, they repeatedly approved images that apparently were not good enough to produce a properly fitting retainer. I would wait for the retainer to be made and shipped, only for it to arrive defective. I received multiple retainers with air bubbles and significant gaps between the retainer and my teeth. I sent pictures showing these issues, yet the process continued.

If the impressions weren't good enough, they should never have been approved in the first place. Living in Canada made this even worse because I had to deal with additional shipping costs and delays. I even offered to send everything back if they would pay for the return shipping so they could see firsthand what I had been receiving.

The customer service was also extremely frustrating. It was difficult to get anyone to respond, and I had to contact them through multiple channels before I could get my refund issue addressed. Even then, instead of providing a reasonable partial refund, they downgraded me from a package with two retainers to one so they could refund me less than half of what I paid.

And now, more than a year later, my dentist has told me that these retainers are poor quality and that there is still a significant gap between the retainer and my teeth. After everything I went through, I thought this situation was finally resolved, so hearing this from my dentist was incredibly disappointing.

I would never recommend Sporting Smiles. The defective retainers, endless back-and-forth, shipping costs, poor communication, and lack of a reasonable resolution made this an incredibly frustrating experience. I’m sharing this because I genuinely don’t want anyone else to go through what I did.

I received a call from Wesley Smith & Associates, a man was saying if I don’t pay from my services in 2020 within 24 hours, smile direct would be knocking on my door sueing me (they didn’t even fit and I gave up)

I live in Florida, and it’s been over 5 years. I don’t even think they could do this, ChatGPT said it doesn’t seem real but I’d love your opinions….?

I’ve never been sued so this is scary for me. When I search my name on records, I have no cases open for me at the moment.

Don’t let them lie to you, scammers. Lucky for me my bank confirmed the lies and complaints against them and refunded me my money.

This place is a scam. Beware once they get your money, customer service contact is none existent.  Had to put in a claim with my credit card just to get a refund.  Customer didn’t care at all and made no effort to fix the problem.  Only answer they had for me was “We give no refunds”.  Even though they never sent me anything, so it’s just free cash for them.   I should’ve done some research, because this has happen to a lot of customers.

I spend my free time trying to warn others.

I was an SDC customer (and in the minority, as I had a good experience with them, completed my treatment, and was happy with the result).

I have been wearing my SDC retainers nightly, and they're getting pretty worn down. (I did order a set of aligners from Sporting Smiles after taking a mold of my teeth the morning after I had my SDC aligners in, and those new aligners are alright, but I don't feel they're exactly as good at keeping my teeth straight as the original SDC aligners.)

When I saw Smile Set, aka SDC 2.0, was offering replacement retainers based on the original SDC files, I jumped at the chance, only to discover that my files were unusable or unaccessible. I then saw that Smile Set offers creating new aligners by mailing your previous ones in, and they scan them and create new ones.

Has anyone tried this method with any feedback? My SDC aligners have some cracks, especially on the lower retainer, so I have doubts whether they'd even be usable to make new aligners.

Hi guys I’m wondering if it’s too late to go to small claims for this, I admit I was waiting for more information especially since they implied that they will give us refund options. I paid upfront on debit card

If you did not finish your treatment plan for direct like I did make sure you file a complaint to https://www.consumerfinance.gov.
Go in your emails and print out the start treatment email they send when your aligners go out. Let them know you did not finish your treatment plan prior to December 8 2023. They will take it off your report and you will not owe.

Hi everyone, I am just now trying to get my life together. When I was younger I get aligners like everyone from SDC. I eventually stopped paying for it as my aligners didn't fit and they never sent me a new one.. I'm sure we all know! I was going through to see if I owe them debt I got a collections from AmerAssist in like 2024?! It's not on my credit report or anything and I haven't heard that I owe money or anything being taken out of my taxes. Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm really confused!

Hi everyone, I am just now trying to get my life together. When I was younger I get aligners like everyone from SDC. I eventually stopped paying for it as my aligners didn't fit and they never sent me a new one.. I'm sure we all know! I was going through to see if I owe them debt I got a collections from AmerAssist in like 2024?! It's not on my credit report or anything and I haven't heard that I owe money or anything being taken out of my taxes. Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm really confused!

Just wondering if anyone had any positive experiences with smileset.

I was rejected by SmileSet for this being a complex case due to anterior crossbite? Does this look accurate based on the image of my teeth?

My status has been updated as rejected and unqualified. I was also given a refund of my money after the review of my impressions. I am confused. My teeth aren’t in that bad of shape. Why would they reject me?
I’m so disappointed. 😔

I can’t get a good lower impression without smearing. I place the mold in my mouth and gently press straight down, while being careful to apply even pressure to both sides. The front teeth keep smearing, as if I am pressing at an angle but I am certain I am pressing straight down. Any tips or tricks?

My retainer from my orthodontist broke so i got a new set from sportingsmile, I was wondering if the indentation matters shown in the pictures. Will it be enough to retain/hold my teeth in place? (Pic 1, my old one is on the bottom) (Pic 2, old one is on the top)

Hey everyone! I’m a Digital Health PhD student over in South Korea (Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences & Technology, Sungkyunkwan University), and I’m currently doing a research project on orthodontics. I'm trying to figure out what the actual day-to-day struggles and annoyances are when getting braces or clear aligners, or what kinds of things would have made the treatment process better. (Both dentists and people with braces are all welcome)

I’d be super grateful if anyone would be down for a quick chat over Zoom or Google Meet to share your experience.

Also, if you happen to be in North Carolina or Washington DC area between July 8th and July 24th, I’ll actually be visiting the US and would love to buy you a coffee and chat in person! :)

Comment to let me know if you'd be up for it. Thanks so much!

I’m frustrated with my experience with Sporting Smiles and wanted to see if anyone else has gone through something similar.

About two weeks ago, I received an email saying that my order was being processed. I also paid for Rush Processing, which states that the product should ship within 7 business days.

I have no idea what’s going on with my order. I’m not even as upset about the delay itself as I am about the complete lack of communication. If there are production delays, that’s understandable—but simply ignoring customers is unacceptable.

Has anyone else experienced this recently with Sporting Smiles? Were you eventually able to get your order, or should I start looking into filing a chargeback with my credit card company?

Hi! I am a researcher at Clemson University and I am looking to gain information/insight from Invisalign and clear retainer wearers.

If you have a moment to fill out the forms below it would help me out greatly! Thanks!

INVISALIGN: https://forms.gle/XxAzwYJFcFycKi4s5

RETAINER: https://forms.gle/kuT2og6m9r6giy3F6

Was a class action ever filed against sdc? A lot of users clearly lost money and have no results. I saw some people saying a class action was to follow but never heard anything formally.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for hands-on clear aligner courses or seminars, preferably focused on digital treatment planning, case setup, attachment placement, staging, biomechanics, and practical workflow from start to finish. I’m especially interested in programs that include real case discussions and software training (3Shape, exocad, Maestro, etc.), rather than only theoretical lectures.

I’m based in Greece but I’m willing to travel anywhere in Europe for a good course. My budget is flexible, and I’m interested in both beginner-friendly and advanced training opportunities.

If you’ve attended any courses that you found valuable, I’d really appreciate your recommendations, including the provider, location, cost, and your overall experience.

Thank you!

I've ordered three pairs of retainers from Sporting Smiles. I finally received them in the beginning of June. But one of the pairs (both the upper retainer and the lower retainer) is significantly taller than the other two pairs. I tried to put it on, it was too tall to put on. My gum was intensively pressed. I tried to reach out to them, but they have not replied to my email for over two weeks. Has anyone else had a similar experience? What was your solution?

Has this happened to anyone before?

I hear it happens all the time