Franchise Facts Report → brands → Smile Source
Smile Source franchise — is it worth it?
Risk level — in the report
Smile Source operates in the health & wellness sector, specifically dental services, with a substantial existing network of 663 outlets.
Unlock what the free page above only hints at:
- Risk & red-flag breakdown — what the missing earnings, fees and churn imply.
- How it compares — every number ranked against health & wellness peers (median & quartile).
- Litigation detail — each case, franchisee vs. corporate, with summaries.
- Outlet churn & the questions to ask — behind the net change above: closures, terminations, transfers, and what to put to the franchisor.
Figures above are as disclosed in Smile Source's most recent FDD (registered 2023). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-27249. The risk level, the Item 19 figures, how it compares to peers, and the litigation & churn detail are in the full report.
Smile Source franchise profit — what the FDD discloses
Plainly: Smile Source does not disclose franchise profit or revenue. Its most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-backed earnings figure for Smile Source — any number quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure. The absence is itself worth weighing (many health & wellness franchisors do disclose), and the full report reads the risk signals Smile Source's FDD does contain — fees, litigation, and outlet churn — against peers. For brands that put earnings on paper, see Health & wellness franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings.
Smile Source lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
We do not publish a litigation answer for Smile Source. Item 3 could not be read reliably from this particular filing, and a claim that a company has no legal history is not one to make on a failed parse — so we say we do not know instead. Item 3 of the FDD itself is the place to check; the methodology page explains what we do and do not machine-read.
Smile Source closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Smile Source will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what Smile Source's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a health & wellness of this kind.
The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. Smile Source's latest tables show a growing franchised network. The actual closure and termination counts, and how Smile Source's churn ranks against health & wellness peers, are in the full report.
The risk & red-flag breakdown, every figure ranked against health & wellness peers, litigation and churn detail — emailed as a PDF.
Who owns Smile Source?
Smile Source's franchise is offered by Smile Source L.P. — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2023), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at CA DFPI; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.
Compare Smile Source head-to-head
Health & wellness franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing Smile Source is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.
Smile Source franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Smile Source — who is the franchisor?
Smile Source's most recently filed FDD (2023) names Smile Source L.P. as the franchisor — the entity you would actually sign the franchise agreement with, as stated on the disclosure document itself. A registry filing names the franchisor, not necessarily its ultimate parent company.
How much does a Smile Source franchise cost?
Smile Source's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $60,500 – $435,000 and a 1.5% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. The full report breaks down every fee line and benchmarks it against health & wellness peers.
How much profit does a Smile Source franchise make?
Smile Source makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-disclosed revenue or profit figure for Smile Source at all — and profit would never be disclosed even where earnings are, because it depends on your rent, labour and how you operate. Any profit figure quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure.
Does Smile Source disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
No — Smile Source's most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation. Its absence is worth weighing; the report focuses on the verifiable risk signals instead.
Are there lawsuits against Smile Source?
We do not publish a litigation answer for Smile Source: Item 3 could not be read reliably from this filing, and we would rather say so than assert a clean record we have not verified. Item 3 of the FDD itself is the place to check.
Is Smile Source a good franchise to buy?
That comes down to how Smile Source's investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against health & wellness peers — which is exactly what the full report answers. For $99 you get the risk level and what's driving it, the actual Item 19 earnings (absent from this FDD), where every figure ranks against peers, and the specific questions to ask the franchisor before you sign.
Everything the sections above point to, in one place: Smile Source's risk level and what's driving it, what the missing Item 19 earnings imply, every figure ranked against health & wellness peers, and the litigation & churn detail — with the questions to put to the franchisor before you sign.
Get a free email when something changes on Smile Source or health & wellness: a new FDD registration, a new lawsuit, an outlet count that shifts, or Item 19 earnings going from undisclosed to disclosed. Pulled straight from the same registries every report is built on.