The Veneer Tech Trend Is Taking TikTok By Storm

Anyone who’s ever had a filling or a crown knows how expensive dental work can be. There’s nothing like going in for what you think is an insurance-covered cleaning and walking out with thousands of dollars on your credit card and a lingering sense of dread. So, it’s no surprise that when an opportunity arises to significantly save money on a procedure that can improve your smile, it will catch our collective attention. That seems to be what’s unfolding over on TikTok with the viral veneer tech trend, a rabbit hole you shouldn’t go down if you’re at all squeamish. These “certified” techs will apply veneers for a fraction of the cost of a traditional dentist. The only problem? Veneer techs are not actually a thing and — spoiler alert — they aren’t even dentists. They’re just enterprising individuals who saw an opportunity, took a two-day course, got a completely meaningless certificate, and are now illegally placing veneers on patients using everything from kits purchased off of Amazon and Temu to acrylics bought at nail supply stores.

As you can imagine, the results have been horror-movie bad. Reports of veneers falling out days after being applied, bleeding gums, fused-together teeth, and severe pain have been popping up all over social media and people who initially thought they were saving money by heading to veneer techs wind up spending a lot more getting their shoddy work fixed by actual dentists. And, while veneers are technically an aesthetic procedure (like Botox or fillers), once your teeth are drilled, it’s permanent. “Teeth don’t come back to life,” says Dr. Michael Apa, D.D.S., a celebrity cosmetic dentist based in New York City. “With Botox, if it’s done poorly, you’re just waiting three to six months and it will be fine. Fillers will dissipate or you can get them dissolved. With cosmetic dentistry, once you cut someone’s teeth, there’s no growing them back.” And depending on just how much someone cuts your teeth (or ignores the underlying issues before slapping a cheap veneer kit over top of your teeth), there’s a very real chance that a 25-year-old with perfectly healthy teeth who gets tech-applied veneers could wind up with dentures by the age of 35, cautions Apa.

With that extremely unsettling thought in mind, TZR talked to three world-class aesthetic dentists to help demystify veneers and explain exactly what they are, what happens when you get them applied, why they cost so much, and some general do’s and don’ts everyone needs to know before they even consider getting them. But please, if you take nothing else away from this, for the love of perfectly straight, even, white teeth, don’t ignore red flags and don’t let anyone touch your teeth who isn’t medically certified to do so.

What Are Veneers?

In the simplest terms, a veneer, explains Dr. Jon Marashi, D.D.S., a cosmetic dentist based in Brentwood, California, is a covering on the front of the tooth. “A cap or a crown is a dental restoration that covers the entirety of the tooth and a veneer is just the front,” says Marashi. “Think of it as a veneer is like a fingernail and a crown is like a thimble.” They are typically made of either porcelain or, less commonly, a composite resin, the material typically used to fill cavities. “Porcelain is a ceramic and it’s a very strong, durable, highly aesthetic material,” notes Marashi. “It’s the most common type of veneer and it’s been used in dentistry for a long time. To this day, it’s still considered the most premium when doing veneer procedures.” Bonding composite, or resin veneers, on the other hand, he explains, are a type of epoxy material and while it is commonly used in dentistry, it’s not a material many aesthetic dentists like to use for veneers. “One of the reasons a lot of folks ask about it is because typically, when it’s applied to the tooth, it’s nothing but a topical application and there’s no modification of the tooth underneath it,” explains Marashi. Read: no drilling, aka no-prep veneers (we’ll come back to those in a bit).

But he notes that there are limitations to composite resin. “There's a tendency of this material to not be nearly as strong as porcelain, and there's a lot of issues with the edges chipping,” he notes. Outside of strength and durability, composite resin also doesn’t look as natural as porcelain and will wear down faster. “The color stability of the material wanes within a few years because the composite bonding resin is more porous compared to porcelain,” he says. “Over time, the polish and the shine of the material will go from a gloss finish to looking more like a matte finish, and it has the tendency to absorb stain, so over time, it will look more like a dull, matte finish with a yellow tint to it, as opposed to white, highly polished, and glossy.”

Who Can Apply Veneers?

Despite what’s been happening over on TikTok, the only people who are legally allowed to be doing any sort of work in your mouth, medical or aesthetic, are dentists, says Dr. Marc Lowenberg, D.D.S., a cosmetic dentist and partner at LLK Dental in New York City. “Throughout our country, you have to be licensed to even put your hands in someone else’s mouth,” says Lowenberg. “Each state licenses dentists. I’m licensed to practice dentistry in New York, but I’m not licensed to practice dentistry in Oklahoma. I know that in the state of New York, even dental assistants would not be allowed to apply a veneer to someone’s tooth.” Meaning that veneer techs are essentially practicing medicine without a license, a crime which ranges from a misdemeanor to a felony, depending on the state and the severity of the case. While the American Dental Association has released a statement warning the public about the dangers of veneer techs, none of the dentists we interviewed were aware of any formal complaints or legal action currently being taken at a national level against the practice to shut down the certification programs or currently practicing techs, meaning it’s currently very much a “buyer beware” scenario.

One interesting point Lowenberg makes is that while your dentist must go to school for dentistry, there is no certification or specialty in school for veneers. Dentists can train to specialize in other areas like braces (orthodontists) or treating gum disease (periodontists), but as Lowenberg notes, they must do post-graduate training in those specialties for two to three years. No such training exists for veneers. Instead, dentists who want to apply veneers can learn by being mentored by a dentist who has been practicing the technique for many years or take a series of weekend courses to learn the different techniques of cosmetic dentistry. But, because there is no post-graduate training for cosmetic and aesthetic dentistry, says Lowenberg, the American Dental Association does not recognize it as a specialty, meaning any dentist can say they specialize in veneers and there is no guarantee the work being done is going to look good.

It might be safer than going to a veneer tech, however you still might end up with teeth that “enter a room before you do,” as Apa puts it. “There is no specialty in cosmetic dentistry, which is why we just donated a wing to NYU and erected the first national and international one-year advanced clinical fellowship program on aesthetic dentistry,” he says. “When you go to a dentist, some dentists are doing root canals, some dentists are doing orthodontia, and a lot of dentists are doing cosmetic dentistry, because it is probably the most lucrative and definitely the most enjoyable, because you're giving someone something positive, versus putting them in pain. That is really where all this is born from — there's no way for the consumer or the patient to differentiate truly between who's good and who's really qualified and who is not.”

What To Expect When You Get Veneers

While every dentist will be somewhat different in their process, according to the cosmetic dentists TZR spoke with, you can expect some version of the following when you head to a dentist who specializes in this type of procedure. “The first thing that happens in the veneer process is consultation,” says Marashi. “I have to get a good understanding of what it is the patient is looking to accomplish for their smile.” That includes both the aesthetic and the functional elements to ensure their teeth will properly fit together and be able to chew, plus ensuring that their teeth and gums are healthy. If you attempt to glue veneers over top of any sort of decay or disease, notes Marashi, you could wind up with an infection that could cause your actual teeth to break off or that could even become life-threatening down the line. And, says Marashi, the mechanics of the mouth are crucial to veneer placement — if the veneers are too large or placed improperly, you might have issues closing and opening your mouth or even develop jaw issues.

Once a treatment plan has been decided and you and your dentist determine how many veneers are needed and where to apply them, a prototype set will be made out of composite resin and applied for you to both wear in the interim while your actual porcelain veneers are being crafted and for you to test out your veneers and ensure you like their look. Marashi calls this the “trial smile,” giving patients the opportunity to request changes to the color and shape before their veneers are glued in place.

That ability to test out your veneers before having them bonded in place is a crucial benefit to ensuring you get the smile that best suits you, says Marashi, as there’s no one-size-fits-all color for veneers. In addition to taking digital scans and 3D scans of the temporary veneers, Marashi also takes detailed color photos of both the veneers and his patients so the ceramists making the veneers can see skin tone, eye color, hair color, and original tooth color. “​​Now we have an exact replica of what we've built in the mouth that the patient's approved, that my technician can use to follow in order to build the porcelain veneers,” he explains. “If you put teeth that have cool tones on someone who has warm tones, the teeth are going to look blue-gray. And if you take someone with cool tones and put warm tones in the porcelain, they will look like they have yellow teeth.”

While technology has advanced to allow many dentists to have in-house labs that produce veneers on-site, Apa cautions that not all labs are created equal and something being new and fast doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s better. As he explains, the tech world has tried to digitize the dental business to tell dentists that they don’t need ceramicists anymore and instead they can just purchase a machine that will create crowns and veneers while they wait. “It’s a milling machine that’s going to mill from a block of porcelain,” he says. “If you think about a tooth, it has three layers of different density — it has enamel, dentin, and cementum, which is the pulp of the tooth. When light hits a tooth, it reflects and refracts in very different ways, depending upon what part of the tooth it's penetrating. If you want to replicate nature, you can’t do that from a block [of porcelain]. That’s where you get chalky, super-white, thick, over-contoured crap.” By contrast, Apa searched the globe for trained artisans skilled in porcelain work who layer with a paintbrush and powder with 10 different bottles of ceramic for each tooth, then bake it in an oven, shape it, and glaze it to give it that glossy, natural appearance that catches the light and naturally reflects and refracts.

After patients have worn their prototypes and given feedback on what they like or don’t like, Marashi says the next step is what’s called a prep appointment, and “prep” in dentist speak refers to drilling. This is where the dentist shapes the teeth to prepare them for the veneers to be bonded on top. While there is such a thing as a no-prep (read: no-drilling) veneer, they are not usually recommended by qualified dentists because they typically don’t give natural results (the so-called “teeth entering the room before you do” effect). And, while popular with patients, they are typically done using composite resin, so they don’t last as long and look blocky and flat. Marashi says it is possible to do no-prep veneers using porcelain, but it’s only for a very select few patients, typically with perfectly straight teeth, and it usually requires having to buff the teeth to smooth out uneven edges or chips, similar to taking an emery board to a jagged fingernail.

The majority of veneers will require drilling, says Marashi, however it will be an extremely detail-oriented type of prep. Novacaine is applied to numb the area and then drilling is done at half a millimeter or sometimes less off the front of the tooth, explains Marashi. “If the veneer thickness is a half a millimeter and you drill away a half a millimeter of the tooth,” he says, “when you put a half a millimeter thickness [veneer] back on the tooth, you’re right back at square one.” Once you start removing too much from the tooth, there’s not enough for the veneer to bond to, and then you are moving into a crown situation, says Marashi.

Once your teeth have been prepped, you are fitted with a pair of temporary veneers while you wait for your veneers to be crafted by the ceramicists, which can take anywhere from one to two weeks. During that time, Marashi says he urges his patients to take a day or two to really study the veneers and make sure they like what they see, as now is their opportunity to make any changes or adjustments to the color, size, or shape of their new teeth.

At your final appointment, your temporary veneers are removed and your new veneers will be first placed on your teeth — but not glued — so you can see exactly how they look and decide once and for all if you’re happy with the outcome. If not, they are sent back to the lab for modification, says Marashi. If you like what you see, your new veneers will be bonded in place.

How Long Do Veneers Last?

Another common misconception many people have, says Lowenberg, is that once you get veneers, you will never need to get them redone. “It's not like buying a house and you're going to have that house forever,” he says. “You have to factor in that, when you [decide to] re-create your smile, down the line, you're going to have to do it over again.” As for when that will be, that really depends on how well you take care of your teeth. “What I tell patients is they should last 20 years if you take care of your teeth,” says Lowenberg. “But things happen. You could bite into a fork by accident. You could be drinking a glass of water and someone knocks into you and it'll break the veneer. They're not impervious to breakage.” To be fair, neither are teeth, and good oral hygiene is always a smart idea, so treat your new teeth gently and commit to a regular brushing and flossing routine to ensure your veneers (and your teeth) have a long and healthy lifespan.

How Much Do Veneers Cost?

There’s a reason people are going to the back rooms of beauty shops to let someone with a dubious dental background glue acrylics to their teeth: Veneers aren’t cheap. While every dentist is different, expect to pay anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000 a tooth for top-tier dentists, says Lowenberg, or $800 to $1,000 per tooth for dentists that don’t have the same kind of name recognition or reputation as those featured here. Marashi notes that you can find dentists working with composite veneers for a few hundred dollars per tooth, however it will definitely be a “you get what you pay for” situation.

Considering that the average person is having anywhere from eight to 18 teeth done total when they get veneers, not to mention any dental work that might need to be done in advance like X-rays or filling cavities, it’s easy to see why someone might be tempted by the promise of a veneer tech. It’s estimated that 68.5 million Americans don’t have dental insurance and that number is only expected to grow. And a recent study found that 92% of respondents had considered holding off on regular dental care due to the cost. Oral health has been taking a back seat for years and that trend shows no sign of waning, so the general population’s teeth and gums aren’t getting any healthier. Not what one would call a great foundation for a cosmetic procedure that requires good oral hygiene to begin with.

But, as Apa so sagely points out, veneers are not a “need” procedure, but rather a “want,” so patients need to evaluate what is financially feasible and healthy for them. “Not everyone can do everything they want to do, and money, typically, is a limiting factor,” he says. “You have to evaluate your capacity to do certain things.” Because the reality is, going to a veneer tech now is likely to end up with you in a dentist’s chair down the line needing thousands of dollars in corrective dental work to fix the damage done to your teeth. Focus on the health of your smile first, then start working toward your cosmetic goals — it’ll be better for your smile and your bank account in the long run.