sales associate

dental assistant

manager

director

customer service representative

Smile Direct Club

I have worked for SDC twice. The first experience was much better by far. In my first role, I worked as a Traveling Dental Assistant/Smile Guide on the Smile Bus. I loved it!! I was able to travel all over the US taking digital impressions. I had so many great experiences. The people I worked with were very closely knit (for the most part).
Essentially, this position was more of a sales job. After doing the 3D scan (digital impression), I would present the box. Explain the process of how remote aligner therapy works, and try to make the sale. 
My 2nd position with SDC I was really excited about at first. It was an opportunity to work remotely on the Dental Team - taking calls from customers going through treatment. A few months after I started, I realized that nothing I did would EVER be good enough. They pick you apart about EVERYTHING, and the dumbest things - such as using the words: clear, doctor, therapy, treatment, Reevaluation  - words that are relevant and applicable to what we do!!
When I took this job, it was my understanding, that I would be able to pick the shift I wanted after working my initial shift for six months. Well, turns out they developed this twisted, convoluted, system to determine who gets to work what shifts. The method is terribly flawed, because the information they use to make the determination is often flawed. 
So, that leaves lots of people forced to work a schedule that does not fit their life. And to make matters worse, they're always talking about how important work/home life balance is to them. Really? What a joke? 
I was shocked to see they were given the 2020 award for the "Best Company for Women" Are you kidding me? Clearly, this is referring to women in executive roles, and not the average woman working within the company. Most woman are the main caregivers of the family, and should not have to work very late hours, or be subjected to changing shifts every few months. 
This company changes things almost daily, and gives you very little time to adjust. I understand it's a growing, "innovative" company, but think about the toll that takes on your employees.

Lastly, probably the most frustrating thing of all - they are always saying: "We're listening, "We want you to feel seen and heard."
 While that sounds nice, when I come to you with a problem, I want a solution,  not a therapy session, or fake empathy. And that's how it's been since I've been in this last position with SDC. They will listen...and that's where it ends. Nothing gets done to make things better. It wasn't this way when I first started with the company. 

I worked for SDC for nearly 2 years as one of the top performers in my store and was recently let go for canceling & rescheduling patients w/o permission of a manager that we DID NOT HAVE! THIS JOB IS ALL SALES and that is ALL they care about! PLUS, Managers have NO DENTAL EXPERIENCE! I have been an assistant for 5 years and i am a current dental hygiene student and my BIGGEST issue here was that i STILL had to put customers through an appointment EVEN if their teeth were EXTREMELY bad. If a customer came in and told me they were having dental work done soon (crowns, extractions, etc) i would be honest and tell the patient they would have to come BACK into the office to get yet another scan  because the aligners they ordered would NOT fit if they ordered them in office that day. After telling a pt that, they are more than likely going to want to reschedule the appointment. They don't like when you are honest with the patients. My most recent incident with them and the reason i was let go, was because i rescheduled a son of a single mom who could not afford the treatment until 6 months to a year from now. The patient called his mom in office after i did the assessment and she asked if i could hold off on sending in his information and reschedule to a later date. And i did just that being that a previous manager (temporary from another state) had me do that before!!!! The most recent manager (THE 6TH ONE SINCE I STARTED) asked me what happened and i told her. She told me i didn't put any notes in for the reschedule. I started this job September 2017 and i have NEVER put notes in for rescheduling patients and didn't know that was a requirement until she told me that. The ONLY thing i was told to note by all the other previous managers were canceled appointments. After that incident the current manager went and dug up other reschedules without notes so she could fire me! She said absolutely nothing about the other one until the day of my termination. [Verbal warning, write up, final warning, THEN termination is the what the paper work says. I was written up, the terminated...the other two were never done.] However, I wasn't surprised since she was moved to our shop after Misconduct & harassing her employees at her previous shop. All in all, i CONSTANTLY felt as if i had to choose between what was right for my patient and making a sale. And that is NO position a REAL dental professional should have to be in.

I’ve been here for a few years now and  have seen the company change a lot over that time period. It’s grown from a few hundred employees to several thousand and has actually seen a ton of success. Unfortunately, so many of the people that contributed to that success have since moved on after not being recognized and rewarded for all of their long hours and high quality work. 

At most, this is a get-in-and-get-out kind of company.  Unless you are a senior manager/director or above, there really isn’t much incentive to stay more than a couple years max - and that’s if you can survive the fast-paced culture, demanding upper-management and overall “work-life integration” (actual quote from our Chief People Officer...). As a lower level employee at corporate, you’ll be given a lot of responsibilities above your pay grade - and while that’s a welcomed challenge at first and a great opportunity to build up experience, it doesn’t really matter if you perform well or not. Bonuses are only accessible to managers and above, promotions are rare (the company tends to just hire from the outside), and the current system for raises leaves very little up to your performance. 

In the end, the biggest issue with this company is very clearly its senior leadership. The CEO gets a bad rap among the lower levels, but in reality he is actually an incredible CEO who carries so many of the other executives and people in senior leadership on his back. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of strategic thinking among the rest of them - mostly yes-men (and women) who prefer to pass along orders rather than take risks and contribute their own ideas. The leadership qualities are also atrocious among upper and mid-level management. No celebrating wins, little focus on development, and often little desire to protect or generally take care of those below them.

All in all - this company has seen its ups and downs, but it’s definitely trending in the wrong direction lately. Since we went public, the already-low focus on employee and customer satisfaction has been sacrificed for maximizing revenue at whatever the cost. Turnover is higher than ever and so many talented, tenured employees have left for better opportunities. If you think a job here might be a good stepping stone, enter at your own risk - but if you’re looking for something for the long term, I would look elsewhere.

Get ready to work 6 days for 35 hours, say hello to HOUR breaks every shift. They double book "ghost chairs" ruins the ENTIRE schedule, leaves customers unhappy and us stressed. Customer care is hard to get a hold of, they hang up, they don't understand dental terminology and really just can't help, usually thick accents and makes us look bad and loose credibility. Upper management is constantly coming down and nit picking even when your sales numbers are great and above and beyond expectations at that point they will tear down your confidence, make comments about needing to wear makeup or point out all of the wrong your doing. Most managers know absolutely noting about dental so it gets extremely frustrating, and you're lucky if you have a manager who's been in dental (was a SmileGuide) prior to becoming a manager! "Better is better'' so during peak season your expected to drop everything and change your schedule at the drop of a dime and come in, if not hours will be cut. There is periods time where you cannot even use PTO you have accrued (blackout dates). Work every weekend because you're a good guide. District manager will try to pop in and "catch us" doing something even when shops numbers are great and we are doing everything that is asked, instead of going to lower performing shops that would benefit more. Bye bye to scrubs and be ready to have hair and makeup done daily, if not comments will be made. Oh and last but not least TERRIBLE CHAIRS, THERE IS NO SUPPORT WHATSOEVER, i'm not just talking about the appointment stools, it's bad i don't feel like our spines are valued, I HIGHLY doubt that upper management sits in this clear plastic pieces of trash or low leaned back IKEA garbage. Could be a career if they put more value into needs of their employees.  Critique others and basically give homework with video reviews because we can't be trusted enough in the room alone, they think we need to be babysat at all times. WAYYYY TOO MUCH MICROMANAGING FROM UPPER MANAGEMENT!!! Great in office manager I'm lucky. Need to be outgoing, friendly, funny, if you aren't competitive don't apply. Pay is decent, i usually bonus. They try to make you travel but no not cool. I like this job actually, but they need to work on work life balance and treating us with respect.

This company started off with some promise (not a lot). There has always been a stigma in the dental world about SmileDirectClub and I never understood why. After working there my opinions have shifted in many ways. In my time there I felt as if my morals as someone in the dental field were being tested daily! It's hard being a dental assistant in this company and being treated like you're nothing when you're the one in the room with the most knowledge about the entire purpose of this company- WORKING WITH TEETH! This company is runs on the idea that you should sell aligners like you would sell sunglasses. If your numbers aren't great you are not trusted to do appointments alone. One of your coworkers or the manager will sit in the appointments with you to make sure you're saying the script correctly. That's right, there's a script! If no one is available to sit in with you then you must record the appointment. This company easily deteriorates your mental health because of how much they judge and pick you apart. They will call you out for saying the wrong thing such as saying "chapstick" instead of "lipbalm". If you're numbers stay bad you're constantly threatened with your job to pick your numbers up. The most ironic part about that is that half the time you can try every trick in the book and still get a "no" from the "customer". But that doesn't matter. The "customer" could be homeless and they'd still expect you to sell to them. This place could be a good place to work. I had fun with the people I worked with but, yikes, the upper management is seriously awful and they make store management stressful. There was a big feeling of being micromanaged all the time and it was a lot to handle. I have worked almost every job there is and have never experienced a company like this. Yikes is the best way to describe being a "SmileGuide" at SmileDirectClub. The money was good and I had awesome coworkers, but that's about the only good thing I can say about this place. If you're into sales this is definitely for you but if you're a DA and actually care about people's teeth than I wouldn't recommend this job for you.

I quit a few months ago but scam place to work and to purchase from . Worked/tried my hardest for a bit and I actually enjoyed working there for awhile until the company got money hungry and couldn’t careless about their employees. My actual coworkers were great but district managers and above did not care about the customer/employees... knew not a thing about dental... As stated previously when I first started working there it was great micromanaging was in a was on a normal level... I was getting my hours at the time and all of a sudden the company took a turn for the worst I was barely getting my 30 hours on top of working the weirdest scheduled hours that only benefited the company but wasted my day. The company completely turned into the WORST micromanaging situation I’ve ever seen. You have to video every single appointment with the customer which every single line you say is scripted... they say the recording is to see where you can improve but it’s really to criticize ever move you say it make on corporate calls. Not only do they watch these videos on corporate calls but your peers from other shops are made to assess them not even on just tactics but all the way down to how you look. On top of that being so terrible if you aren’t acting the exactly way they want you to they make you feel like something is wrong with you , but then again how can you be yourself when their is a camera on your face knowing the video will be critiqued, almost a form of bullying. I would get so sick of my stomach every time I was MADE to watch the video with peers while they critiqued me. The product is an absolute sham... they make sure you don’t tell anyone that it may not work for them.  I had so many people come in with the same complaint that it wasn’t working when it could easily been avoided if the company would just allow us to tell them it would work but again money hungry. Along with the company just being absolutely awful it is going even more down hill by now cutting back on hard working employees... firing people because of the need to “grow”.  Making them promise not to speak badly if the company goes under.

I’m about to reach my year anniversary this month and could not be more angry and disappointed with this company. I started out so relieved that I found a job that would get me back on my feet after a bad relationship. I was shocked with the starting pay and opportunities ahead thinking it was too good to be true (it was). Only a month into the position, I was rewarded with travel opportunities around the country that made me feel so important and like I finally had a career path as a young woman. Shortly after that, I was offered management positions (I had to turn down because they wanted me to move out of state - anyone willing to give up their family and personal time for them are the ones treated like royalty). I was working blissfully making enough money to finally support myself on my own. Now, not even a year later, they have drastically cut my hours from full time to just 13 hrs/week due to not enough appointments at my shop... which they have full control over in advertising! Hours were reduced gradually several times so at this point, I am unable to make rent let alone buy food or gas to get to work 2 days/week. Soon I’ll have to move back in with my parents and my car will be taken away. The stress this company has added to my life is bringing me severe health problems that are also adding to the expenses I can’t afford because of their stingy insurance package. Meanwhile, full time travelers get $60/day for food, their own rental car, and regular overtime... I am being screwed over to the extreme by this company and I haven’t even began to explain the other details involved in being an employee. I truly believe that this is all the result of the greed this company has. They cut corners and loyal employees to make money as fast as they can, not caring about consequences long term effects. By doing this, they’re losing successful assets to their company as well as future employees and customers because I will NOT be recommending anyone to be involved with SDC after my experience.

I worked at this company for over a year . I was promised many things and the company and management never followed through . This is a sales job not a dental assisting job . You will be required to sell to people who have rampant decay , dental disease ect knowing they wont be approved for treatment . You will then be punished when they don't buy .
You are not allowed to give dental advice, and watch people come in for refinements who's occlusion is completely ruined from treatment but you wont be able to tell them that. You will be shamed for wanting to take PTO , or vacation time . You will work mostly every Saturday and late nights . This is not a good job if you have a family . Management has no dental background but are expected to check ortho photos and itero scans . The managers in the district have company calls where they watch videos of smile guides (your required to record all your appointments) and discuss negatively about the smile guides even though they've never taken appointments or again have any dental background. I've had three different district managers since I've started . The first district manager was rude and told me my personality wasn't good enough for this job . My second district manager was never around or cared for our shop . The third district manager is actually very attentive and may help this shop . The actual manager of this shop is unprofessional , not a people person, and lacks empathy for customers and their employees. She is very hard to deal with on a daily bases and that opinion is shared amongst the other fellow smile guides that I have worked with throughout my time here. I've watched smile guides cry and throw up throughout their shifts, due to unnecessary pressure put on them . I put my two weeks in and was paid out for my PTO , but will not receive my bonus for almost entire month that I worked. Even though I am entitled to all sales I have made . I have been a top smile guide and have gone above company expectations for numbers as well .

SmileDirectClub has been a great place to grow in my career. If you get hired to work on X, your thoughts and feedback are welcome for Y and Z as well. Personally, I've twice gone to my leader and asked to take on a new responsibility after coming across something that interested me. Both times we found a way to make it happen.

The best thing I can say about SDC is that I'm a better engineer now than I was when I started here a few years ago.

Every week, I get an email with the subject "Inspired by Why." It's a sampling of feedback from our customers sharing how having a better smile has increased their confidence and happiness. It's an honor to be a small part of making that happen for so many.

On the cultural side of things, leadership puts a significant amount of time and energy into this. It's the kind of effort you'd see at smaller companies that generally gets phased out as the company grows and building a good culture becomes more complicated. It's impressive that at our size, they are still focused on ensuring everyone's happiness. Around once a quarter, all team members get an anonymous survey. They take this feedback seriously. There have been numerous actionable changes that have come from these surveys.

While hardly a bad thing in itself, SDC has grown dramatically in the last several years. Growing pains and technical debt are a reality that we face. Leadership is open and honest about it, but if you're not on board with seeing the longer gains through, you may be unhappy in an engineering role here. That said, it's gratifying to see some of those longer gains through to competition.

Things can also be fast-paced, and priorities can change. While the company has thousands of employees, it's still a startup in a lot of ways. Flexibility to roll with shifting goals and priorities is important.

I will start by saying that i truly enjoyed my time here and I know this company is going to do amazing things. Its more of a management issue than anything. Things were fine with my first manager here. I was a smile guide for over a year and I loved the job itself. The benefits and hours are great. As a smile guide you are a sales person and that part is fun and exciting. You get to build connections with customers you don't meet in a normal dental office. It wasn't until I had reported the assistant manager and no action was taken and she was promoted a week later to the manager there were some issues. This person constantly bad mouthed other employees to their peers. They would bad mouth upper management and tell us no one can be trusted when she this person was the problem. They became friends with their favorites and manipulated them to lie for them to make them look better. Managers sit in the back on their phones and work 30 hours a week. They will even try to hold you back from other opportunities because it doesn't benefit them. This job is not my future as I am a student so I put up with it for too long. 
This company also claims to follow all HIPAA laws but this is untrue. Leadership looks up customer information to see stuff that has nothing to do with their job.
I assume this same job at a location where there isn't a manager who acts like an emotionally abusive boyfriend would be lots of fun and a good opportunity to grow in a booming company.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Sales associate 11 salaries reported	$18.35 per hour
Dental assistant 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour
Manager 4 salaries reported	$86,750 per year
Director 4 salaries reported	$180,000 per year
Customer service representative 3 salaries reported	$15.33 per hour

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