What are the disadvantages of SMILE Pro?
It is available at fewer clinics, it is not used for long sightedness, enhancement after it is a different procedure from lifting a flap, and the evidence comparing platform generations is still developing. None of those makes it a worse choice; they make it a choice with different trade-offs.
- Subject
- Vision correction
- Topic
- SMILE Pro
- Kind of question
- What is…
- Procedures
- SMILE Pro, LASIK
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
The honest framing is that both SMILE and LASIK have a list of trade-offs and neither list is empty. A clinic that presents only the advantages of the procedure it sells is describing a product, and the assessment is where the difference should appear.
What this answer depends on
- Whether your prescription is inside the treatable range
- Whether an enhancement might be needed and how it would be done
- Which procedure the surgeon performs most often
Related guides
People also ask
The questions readers move to next from this one: the closest subjects first, from either question bank.
Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Vision correction & laser eye surgery in SMILE Pro . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
Subjects this question touches
The pages that answer the subject behind the question, rather than the question itself.
- Procedure SMILE Pro
- Comparison SMILE Pro vs LASIK
- Place SMILE in Dubai
- Procedure SMILE
- Comparison LASIK vs SMILE
This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE)
A continuously updated clinical reference chapter covering SMILE indications, technique, outcomes and complications, written for clinicians.
Used for How the lenticule is created and removed; Indications and contraindications; Complication categories; Corneal biomechanics compared with flap-based surgery.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Comparison of clinical outcomes following small incision lenticule extraction with the VISUMAX 800 and VISUMAX 500
A single comparative study of SMILE performed on the newer and older generations of the ZEISS platform. A single study, not a pooled analysis.
Used for The SMILE vs SMILE pro section, explicitly labelled as single-study evidence.
Link checked 22 September 2026