NEWS USA TODAY ❚ MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020 ❚ 5A
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-competitive agenda that trade organizations and
our detractors have been implementing to block access to care and
limit fair competition. 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
mostimportant constituent – our customers.
To OurValued 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. VisitSmileDirectClub.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.”