Cudahy man files claim against SmileDirectClub alleging 'devastating' long-term physical, mental, and financial issues

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Scattered on a table in downtown Milwaukee Tuesday morning are several clear teeth aligners, bags of retainers, vials of dental cleansing solution, and some lip balm. 

Next to the mess sits a now empty purple box with bold white letters spelling "open for a lifetime supply of confidence" on top.

When looking down at the package and its scattered contents, Jeff Turner of Cudahy just laughs.

"Confidence is the furthest thing I have now," Turner told CBS 58's Ellie Nakamoto-White. 

Pamphlets inside of the box have sayings like "Future Grinner's Guide" and "Welcome to the Club."

But this "club" is one Turner never wanted to be a part of.

He had first seen commercials on television advertising for SmileDirectClub -- a telehealth dental company promoting cost-effective teeth aligners.

“I had a gap in my front teeth for my entire life, and it was minor but what they were advertising looked affordable to me," Turner recalled. 

So, he called and set up an appointment at the company's location in Brookfield.

“She just put a wand in my mouth for maybe 30 seconds or 60 seconds, took images of my mouth and said they’d get back to me," Turner said. "I was in there for maybe less than 10 minutes."

A few weeks later, and his purple box had arrived. 

Turner had been quoted about $98 a month. But he ended up paying for so much more.

“I noticed when I’m eating, like I could feel like a little kid with a loose tooth, and you wiggle it with your finger, that’s what I’m doing, and I’m like wow, there’s quite a few of those like that," Turner said. 

He remembered wondering if the looseness and pain he was feeling was a normal response, and even ended up calling SmileDirectClub for confirmation.

"They said that’s normal, and a month or so later, I said this doesn’t seem normal to me at all," Turner said.

After about five months of continuously wearing his aligners, Turner took them out for good.

That was in the middle of 2020.

Now, nearly four years later, he's still suffering from what he believes SmileDirectClub's product did to his teeth.

"I've had five teeth pulled already," Turner said, adding that he has three more scheduled to be taken out in the spring. "The first to go were my upper molars... my middle front teeth are very loose."

He now struggles to eat and cannot consume certain foods.

“Eventually it’s going to happen with probably all of my upper teeth," Turner said.

He had gone to visit a dentist and two periodontists who then told him he had periodontal disease and should have never been approved for SmileDirectClub's services.

"They both said don’t put those things back in your mouth anymore," Turner said. "He said this is just gross negligence because I have periodontal disease and you can’t do any kind of orthodontic work until the periodontal disease is properly treated.”

Turner said looking back at the situation now, he sees red flags he had previously ignored.

"I was naive," Turner said. "But now my quality of life is diminished."

Besides the physical and mental anguish, he's now also fallen into a hole financially.

“It’s financially devastating. I’m over $10,000 of dental bills already and the implants are going to be a lot more," Turner said, noting he's even had to take out extra credit cards to try to fix the problems.

“I’m just going to have to keep doing that and paying it off little by little because I’m going to have to somehow fix my teeth," Turner said.

SmileDirectClub, a company once valued at near $9 billion, had recently filed for bankruptcy in September 2023.

On Dec. 9, a statement on its website announced its abrupt closure.

Turner, who had also hired a personal injury attorney in Milwaukee, was saddened when he learned of the announcement.

The two were forced to quickly file a proof of claim in bankruptcy court, along with thousands of others impacted across the country. 

Turner said while he needs to fix his teeth as soon as he can, he's willing to wait for justice.

“I don’t know who this worked on, maybe some people had success," Turner said. "I certainly was not one of those stories.”

CBS 58 has reached out to SmileDirectClub for a response but so far has not yet heard back.