Our obsession with "Hollywood smiles" has officially gone too far. On TikTok, "veneer technicians" are offering patients a new smile for a great price. But there's a catch — they're not actually dentists.
A series of TikTok and Instagram profiles advertising veneers at too-good-to-be-true prices has sparked a firestorm of conversation over who is qualified — and definitely not qualified — to place veneers.
The owners of these social media accounts claim to be what they call "veneer techs" or "veneer specialists," titles that might sound official to an unwitting patient. Some of them even promote veneer training classes that promise to turn anyone and everyone into a veneer expert in as few as two days (for a fee, of course). At the end of the class, participants receive paper certificates that resemble diplomas.
But these certificates are meaningless — they don't grant recipients the legal license to do veneers, much less perform a routine dental cleaning. "These are individuals who are not dentists and have no formal education," says Joyce Kahng, a doctor of dental surgery (DDS) and the owner of Orange and Magnolia Dental Studio. "They take a two-day certification course, which doesn’t mean anything. There is no such thing as a certification for 'veneer tech.'"
Lilya Horowitz, DDS and founder of Domino Dental, elaborates: "To place veneers of any kind you must be licensed to practice dentistry in your state. To obtain this license you must complete a four- year undergraduate program, as well as a three- or four-year accredited dental school program, which gives you a DDS or a DMD [Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry] degree. In some states like New York, you also need to complete one year of hospital training until your license is granted."
Even with a DDS or DMD degree, it takes dentists years of additional practice to become truly skilled at veneers. "It’s like any other profession — you can go to school and get a license to practice law, build houses, cut hair or perform plastic surgery, but how good will you be right after graduation?" Dr. Horowitz says.
There are real risks to black market veneers. "The biggest issues we have with these veneer techs is that many times, they bond straight on top of decay," Dr. Kahng says. According to Dr. Horowitz, covering up active decay and bacteria in your teeth with veneers can result in a life-threatening infection.
If you're considering getting veneers, do your research. A dentist's before and after photos are telling — Lana Rozenberg, DDS and founder of Rozenberg Dental NYC, encourages patients to double check that they're not stock photos or taken from another dental practice.
Be wary if your provider tries to rush you into anything. "We will always do a cosmetic mockup to make sure the patient understands what we can do for them and agrees to move forward," Dr. Horowitz says, adding that no legitimate doctor will schedule a treatment or accept payment before evaluating a patient in person.
It's pretty clear that "veneer techs" are taking advantage of the surge in interest in veneers, a trend we owe, in part, to the preponderance of veneer-related content on TikTok. But all fads eventually fall out of favor — we're already seeing people tire of uncannily perfect teeth, instead embracing dental "imperfections" like gaps, chips, and stains.
If you're set on undergoing any kind of cosmetic treatment, Lauren Becker, DDS, offers the following as a cardinal rule: "Do not ever have medical work done by a non-medical professional."
