The Washington Post - 02.03.2020

(Tina Meador) #1

MONDAy, MARCH 2 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A


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With innovation and disruption will come challengers. We welcome

that. Competition makes us all stronger and benefits the consumer.

However, we cannot and will not tolerate what we believe to be the

protectionist, anti-competiti ve agenda that trade organizations and

our detractors have been implementing to block access to care and

limit fair competiti on. These organizations have spent significant sums

of money funding political campaigns to propose anti-competitive

legislation and influence dental boards and associations. We believe

these tactics harm consumers and are directly at odds with the

telehealth laws that have been passed throughout the country

reflecting our government’s desire to bring affordable health care to

everyone. These are deep-pocketed organizations who have fueled

a mass publicity campaign against us with the goal of keeping their

exorbitant fees unchallenged by damaging our reputation with our

most important constituent – our customers.

To Our Valued Customers,

Team Members, and Shareholders,

SmileDirectClub was founded in 2014 with the mission to bring affordable, accessible care to consumers,

and we have been unwavering in our commitment to that mission since day one. We have brought true

industry disruption to a category that was unchanged for decades, opening the door for more than one

million consumers around the world to achieve the smile they deserve. By our making clear aligner

therapy more convenient, more accessible, and more affordable, thousands of people for whom this

type of treatment might have been out of reach are now able to achieve a feeling of confidence and

satisfaction that’s transformative to every aspect of their lives.

I would like to make our position absolutely clear. Our commitment is to our customers and access to

care for all. Most important, we want to emphasize that licensed professional dentists and orthodontists

are at the center of the experience we enable for every single one

of SmileDirectClub’s customers, overseeing all clinical aspects of

our customer’s care. Additionally, we want to acknowledge our

appreciation and support for the brick-and-mortar dentists of our

customers, who continue with their regular follow-on oral care. We

welcome all dentists and orthodontists who share our commitment

to oral care to join our network and mission to make healthy, straighter, and cleaner teeth something that

everyone can have access to, regardless of their income, location, or schedule.

SmileDirectClub will continue to expose these trade organizations and defend our reputation every

chance we get. We will continue to fight tirelessly to bring innovation and access to affordable oral care

to the hundreds of millions of people who want to know the joy of the smile that they deserve.

Sincerely,

David Katzman

Chairman and CEO, SmileDirectClub

P. S. See what our customers have to say. Visit SmileDirectClub.com/results

Providing Access

60%

Percentage of counties in the
U.S. that lack orthodontists.

250
Dentists and licensed
orthodontists on our
teledentistry platform.

1,000,

Number of customers we
have served.

“Our commitment

is to our customers

and access to care

for all.”
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