CVS Health will add in-store SmileDirectClub shops to hundreds of locations following a successful pilot earlier this year. The SmileShops will be added as in in-network health care option for Aetna Dental, giving members more incentive to handle their dental health at the retailer’s stores.
SmileShops offer shoppers a free 3D digital image of their teeth, which can be used by a digital network of state licensed dentists and orthodontists to approve and manage a clear aligner treatment plan to straighten teeth. The aligners, which on average cost less than traditional orthodontics work, are then delivered to the customer’s door.
Advertisement
The CVS pilot took place at 13 stores in eight states and the rollout is expected to reach hundreds of stores in 2019 before potentially expanding to over a thousand over the next several years. SmileShops will also open inside the retailer’s HealthHUB concept stores, which have at least 20% of their store space dedicated to health services.
However, SmileDirectClub isn’t a CVS exclusive — Walgreens is also running a four-store test program, according to CNBC. Both retailers have been matching each other as they add new products and services to their stores, such as stocking CBD topicals and offering prescription delivery.
