WOONSOCKET — CVS Health Corp. is testing telemedicine orthodontics in about 100 of its stores with SmileDirectClub, a startup connecting patients with licensed dentists and orthodontists, the company announced Wednesday.
The service allows remote assessment of dental impressions from an at-home kit or digital dental scans and provides “invisible” tooth aligners by mail, circumventing traditional orthodontic visits.
CVS Health is selling SmileDirectClub products in approximately 100 CVS Pharmacy locations across the country and is also testing SmileShopExpress – which provide a 3D dental scan completed in-store – in six stores, according to Joseph Goode, a spokesman for CVS Health.
“CVS Pharmacy is committed to making health easier and more convenient for our customers. As part of this commitment, we continuously test new programs and partnerships to enhance the customer experience,” the company said in a statement.
The service, if adopted company-wide, would join CVS’ other telemedicine foray, MinuteClinic Video Visits – virtual health care video-chat available through the CVS Pharmacy mobile app – for patients with minor illnesses and injuries, which the company announced in August, and has been available in Rhode Island since October 2018. The service is now available in 18 states.
The video chats connect app users with physicians from Teladoc Inc., using the virtual care company’s technology platform, receiving the same care they receive at traditional MinuteClinic locations inside select CVS Pharmacy and Target stores, the company has stated.
SmileDirectClub was founded in 2014 by Alex Fenkell and Jordan Katzman in partnership with Camelot Venture Group, whose portfolio companies include 1-800 CONTACTS and Quicken Loans, and is based in Nashville, Tenn. The company employs about 4,000 people, and reports it has helped more than 370,000 people improve their smiles.
The company has about 200 SmileShops in the United States and Canada and has a network of more than 240 affiliated licensed dentists and orthodontists.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email himat Borkowski@PBN.com.
