DOJ, FTC Team Up in SmileDirectClub Case, Despite Public Rift

Both of the federal government’s antitrust enforcers weighed in for SmileDirectClub LLC in its challenge to Alabama’s anti-teledentistry rules in the Eleventh Circuit, despite a public rift between the agencies.

The lawsuit by SmileDirectClub, a web-based teeth-straightening business, targets the Alabama Board of Dental Examiners and its members. It accuses them of violating antitrust laws by trying to shutter the storefront where SmileDirectClub employees model patients’ mouths with specialized digital cameras. The board, which consists of practicing dentists, labeled the operation an unauthorized dental practice to head off competition, the suit says.

The case is part of a wave of ...