drsmile.de

Extremely Frustrating and Unprofessional Experience with DR Smile / IMPRESS

I began my treatment with DR Smile in mid-June 2024, paying in full upfront for a plan that included two permanent retainers. Soon after, I was told—due to their mistake—I’m only able to get one permanent retainer because of the lack of space in my mouth and would have to use nighttime retainers for the top teeth. I agreed, but it already felt unprofessional that they didn't notice this with the initial scan.By February 2025, I was nearing the end of my treatment but was dissatisfied: visible gaps remained in my top front teeth, and the last few aligners made my bottom teeth skew, causing pain. I reported this, but since Impress had taken over DR Smile, I received no response, and all the dentists I’d seen had ended their relationships with DR Smile/Impress, leaving me with no support.After two months of silence and another dentist visit just to deal with pain and sensitivity, I found a dentist in Düsseldorf in April 2025 who agreed to do a rescan (April 17th). I was told it might take 10 days to hear back, which seemed reasonable at the time.On April 23rd, I followed up because the Impress app showed my new aligners were “on their way”. On April 25th, I was told UPS would be in touch to confirm my address—still, nothing happened.On May 8th, frustrated by the lack of any update, I reached out again and was rudely told to “be patient.” After waiting so long already, this felt insulting.An entire month passed with no progress. On June 16th—almost two months after my April scan—I was informed there had been a technical error, and I’d need another scan. With no apologies, I was told the next available appointment wasn’t until the end of July, just for a 15-minute scan. When I suggested booking myself, I was told I would have to use their process if I wanted it covered, which led me nowhere.Instead, I booked the scan with my dentist again; fortunately, he fit me in on June 20th. He confirmed the scan data was sent, but warned me that as of July 1st, his office would also stop seeing DR Smile/Impress patients, due to their growing unprofessionalism.On July 1st, I received an email saying my treatment “had come to an end”, even though I hadn’t received the required refinement aligners. I immediately replied, but later the app’s chat support acted as though my case information didn’t exist, asking basic questions about whether I’d had a rescan. I explained the whole situation—again. They told me this was “not normal,” escalated it to the right department, and promised a quick resolution.Soon after, someone (Meri) emailed repeating all the same questions. I asked them to check the chat logs rather than repeat myself. After that—silence, even after follow-ups.On July 9th, I followed up on chat; the rep still had no update and said they were waiting for a reply. On July 28th, after three more weeks of “being patient,” I was finally told my second scan hadn’t been uploaded either, despite my dentist confirming both uploads.Feeling defeated, I asked what to do next. I was told to rescan again. They said the only available clinics were over an hour away, even though I showed screenshots of numerous available slots for "new victims" at their flagship Düsseldorf location. They claimed there were none, gave me a phone number, and when I called it, the dental office said they had never worked with Dr. Smile or Impress.As of now, I’ve been wearing my final set of aligners for over four months longer than necessary, dealing with pain and sensitivity, endless support emails and chats, failed scans, and no useful assistance. The timeline of delays, lack of accountability, and constant runaround has made this a nightmare.I wouldn't recommend Dr. Smile/Impress to my worst enemy, let alone friends or family—my experience has been chaotic, frustrating, and utterly unprofessional. If you value your time, money and dental health, look elsewhere.Now, I will just wait for the reply from DR Smile: "To help us better understand your issue, could you please provide us with a few more details via our email at xxxxxxxxxxx? We're very interested in finding a solution for you."- which I've already done and will probably not yield any results.

Date of experience: Feb 28, 2025