Startups Want to Disrupt Orthodontia and Doctors Are Biting Back

[View on the web]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Features [The Cutthroat World of Orthodontic Invisible Aligner Startups]( [ortho]( Getting your teeth straightened no longer means paying $4,000 or more and schlepping to a million appointments. Like pretty much everything else being disrupted these days, startups with good funding are here to upend the [teeth straightening industry](. And they’re not doing it quietly. They have gone head-to-head in legal and public relations brawls with the dental establishment, detractors, and even regulatory and professional bodies as more and more competitors enter the market. The premise for these new entrants into the space (between your teeth): [Traditional orthodontia]( is really expensive and requires a lot of time-consuming office visits, making it inaccessible for a good chunk of people who could potentially benefit. Startups like [Candid Co](., [SmileLove](, [SnapCorrect](, and [SmileDirectClub]( have popped up to address the inaccessibility of orthodontic care, and they all have fundamentally similar business models. Generally, clients pay a fee of less than $100 for an at-home teeth impression mold kit or, when available, go to a brick-and-mortar store to take a computerized 3D scan of their mouths. A dental team consisting of dentists, orthodontists, and/or “dental technicians” (depending on the brand you choose) comes up with the treatment plan and an image of what your mouth might look like after treatment. Then a box of “invisible” clear plastic aligners is mailed. Most of the companies even offer teeth whitening services thrown in. In general, all the services cost about $2,000 depending on the payment plan you choose, which is still [several thousand dollars cheaper]( than going to a traditional orthodontist’s office. A few of the brands use [Affirm’s microloans]( as a financing option. [Read the rest of the story here>>]( Ad from our sponsor Features [Conservative Websites Are on the Fashion Beat They Say Mainstream Media Ignores]( [melania walking]( Right now on [the Daily Caller](, you will find articles on how #MeToo and affirmative action are going too far, the most recent tactic President Trump has used to “eviscerate” his critics, and plenty of articles headed by Barack Obama making “[politician shame face](” — basically, everything you’d expect to find on a right-leaning site launched by Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson. You will also find [this](: TIFFANY TRUMP TURNS HEADS IN BLACK SHEER TOP OUT IN LONDON [PHOTOS] It’s an article format that’s familiar to everyone who has ever been on the internet, or on this very website, the gist of which is essentially “a person is photographed wearing an outfit.” But it’s also an article format more closely associated with fashion- and entertainment-focused blogs or mainstream general interest sites rather than ones that the [Southern Poverty Law Center described]( as having a “white nationalist problem.” The difference, though, was that if you happened to be the sort of person who was looking for information on what Tiffany Trump wore on this particular night out in London, the Daily Caller was one of the only places you could get it. [Read the rest of the story here>>]( Did a friend forward you this email? [Sign up for the Racked email newsletter](. Ad from our sponsor From the Archives A selection from the editors at Racked [lady in a bra on a bed]( [Why Are There So Many Bra Ads on Instagram, Anyway?]( We looked into why women are inundated with them — and why we can't opt out. [Read More]( [woman in a straw hat that says "greetings from"]( [An Oral History of the World’s Most Instagrammable Straw Hat]( When you’re at the beach, do you really need to tell people you’re “Out of Office?” [Read More]( Ad from our sponsor [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving emails from Racked. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2016. All rights reserved.