At-home aligners in the UK

At-home aligner treatment in the UK usually means the trays are posted to you and most later check-ins happen from home. What differs, and matters most, is how treatment starts: whether a dentist examines you in person before aligners are prescribed, or the plan is made from impressions and photos alone. This guide groups the current options by how you are assessed and treated, not by whether a scan is available, and compares them in one table dated 22 October 2026.

What "at home" means now

The remote model has four steps. Records of your teeth are collected, by home impressions or a scan. A clinician reviews them and plans the movement. The aligners are posted to you. Progress is checked from photos or an app.

The records are not the same as an examination. The General Dental Council says suitability for orthodontic treatment must be based on a full assessment of oral health, and that there is currently no effective substitute for a physical clinical examination as the foundation of that assessment. The prescribing dentist can rely on an examination by another dental professional, with its records, but remains responsible for the judgement.

So for each provider, separate four things: how records are collected, whether a dentist examines you in person before treatment, who prescribes, and how you are monitored. In this guide:

• Remote-first means the plan is made from home impressions or a scan, without a required in-person examination by the treating service.
• Hybrid means you start online but must attend a practice for an examination before treatment is prescribed; later check-ins can be remote.
• Clinic-first means you start with a clinic visit, and some later check-ins may be remote.

A scan at a partner practice is a way of collecting records. On its own it does not make a route hybrid.

The current options compared

Published information on 22 October 2026. Prices are both arches, full-time wear, unless stated. Offers change often; check the provider's page before you pay.

NewSmile is not in the table: when we checked on 27 October 2026, its UK aligners could not be ordered online, and its shop listed retainers and night guards but no aligners.

The table also cannot show who will treat you: the public pages checked do not name the dentist who will prescribe your treatment, so ask.

The advantages and limitations of each option

Remote-first services had the lowest published prices in the table and need no appointments with the service itself, but they plan from records alone; you may still need, or choose, a separate dental examination. Straight Teeth Direct narrows that gap by asking for X-rays and gum scores from your own dentist. It also does not use attachments or reshaping between teeth, which limits the movements a remote plan can make; see what clear aligners can and cannot treat.

Hybrid adds a physical examination before treatment, which is what the GDC describes as the foundation of the assessment, while keeping most later check-ins remote. Smileie now requires that visit. Its package prices overlap with the remote-first options, although its pages give different amounts for the same package, so compare what the examination, monitoring and package include rather than reading the level of care from the price.

Clinic-first prices in the table start at a similar level to remote-first plans and rise much higher for complex cases, but a dentist examines you, can add attachments and reshape teeth, and can see you during treatment. Invisalign, Spark, Angel Aligner and similar systems are also arranged through a dentist or orthodontist; the Invisalign and at-home comparison covers that choice.

Questions to ask any provider

• Will a dentist examine me in person before treatment, and if not, how will my gums and roots be checked?
• Who is the dentist responsible for my treatment, and can I contact them directly?
• What exactly is included: impression kit or scan, refinements, retainers, check-ins?
• What happens if a tray does not fit, or the result falls short?
• What can I get refunded if I stop at each stage?

How the process works from start to finish is in the guide to straightening teeth at home, and the UK cost guide explains how to read a fee.

Brands that are not current choices

Straight My Teeth still has a website, and its pricing page still shows treatment figures and an impression kit at £44.99. A separate plan page says new orders are not being taken at the moment. Companies House lists Straightmyteeth Ltd as dissolved on 22 October 2024. Those signals do not add up to a clear way for a new customer to start, so it is not listed above.

SmileLife's Irish company, Smilelife Limited, is in liquidation, and there is no current UK order site. DestinationSmile has no current aligner shop. Impress bought Diamond Whites in 2023, and on 23 October 2026 the Diamond Whites website redirected to the Impress website.

SmileDirectClub stopped taking new UK customers when the company wound down on 8 December 2023. See what happened to SmileDirectClub. PlusDent was folded into DR SMILE and is not a current consumer brand. See what happened to PlusDent.

Individual reviews: Smile Perfect, Straight Teeth Direct, NewSmile, Smileie, Smile White, Impress, Diamond Whites and Invisalign.