A big thank you to my DPR Editorial Director, Noah Levine, who brought this subject to my attention.
As most folks in the dental industry know, Smile Direct Club (SDC) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2023 and ceased all operations in December 2023. The company's idea of providing orthodontic treatment direct to consumers with no doctor supervision had a spectacular flame-out. I was never a supporter of that concept and I wasn't shocked in the least when cases went sideways and the backlash against SDC ensued.
The newest interesting news on this story (thanks again Noah) is that the company is now trying to sell all of its assets in one huge sale through an auction company. The company had/has a 125,000 square foot production facility in Antioch, Tennessee that appears to be chock full of high tech equipment (which I'm guessing was bought on credit).
The items are being auctioned as an entire lot to the highest bidder. The list includes clear aligner production lines, robotic sorting cells, a state of the art 3D printing laboratory, as well as 675 iTero Elements intraoral scanners.
I find this whole thing fascinating and I'm really interested to see if the 'one lot' auction can be accomplished. I'm also very interested to know, if it does work, who buys it and the winning bid amount.
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