Dentsply Sirona: Suspension of Byte Aligners Throws a Wrench Into Fast-Growing Segment

On Oct. 24, no-moat Dentsply Sirona unexpectedly announced that it has voluntarily suspended the sale and marketing of Byte aligners and impression kits after consulting with the Food and Drug Administration. Byte aligners are direct-to-consumer clear aligners and one of the last players focused on the DTC orthodontic model after key competitor SmileDirectClub filed for bankruptcy and subsequently shut down in 2023. While Byte has sought new markets with Byte+, a new hybrid model that takes patients through an initial treatment plan with a doctor and offers at-home procedures for the remainder, the doctor base that is registered with the program remains limited. According to the website, just over 210 providers across the US are Byte-approved, which is a fraction of the 85,000-plus doctors that market leader Align Technology ships Invisalign to. While Dentsply didn’t reveal the ultimate goal with Byte, we think it is possible that it will lean more into the hybrid program going forward. This is a similar approach to Candid, another US clear aligner player that used to offer a DTC model but has since converted to a hybrid model that mirrors Byte+.