TikTokers are sharing horror stories of getting dental work by unlicensed 'veneer techs'
Horror stories about 'veneer techs' are going viral.
Unlicensed practitioners can cause irreversible damage, the American Dental Association warned.
One woman has been accused of practicing unlicensed dentistry in Illinois and Nevada.
Veneers are all the rage on social media.
But an emerging crop of unlicensed practitioners — who go by the dubious distinction of "veneer techs" — could cause serious damage.
Getting porcelain veneers is a pricey procedure for which top dentists can charge as much as $80,000.
But many so-called veneer techs focus on a less invasive procedure known as composite-bonded veneers, according to a new report in The Cut.
This technique requires minimal shaving before a cap is attached.
For some, it has spelled disaster.
In March, the creator @tybabira88 went viral on TikTok, recounting her seven-hour drive to get veneers in the back of a barbershop. She said many of her new teeth fell out within days.
Though she was ultimately refunded, the TikToker — whose real name is Tyrisha Ragin — told The Cut she had to pay her dentist to have the veneers repaired.
And Ragin isn't alone.
A creator named @spechellephase recounted how partial veneers from her $3,500 procedure felt "too big in her mouth."
The TikTok user said she couldn't talk because they were so large.
She asked for the veneers to be "shaved down," but the tech warned her that they might get "stuck" in her mouth.
The tech later complained that she was hungry and told another man that she would "hurry up" with the procedure so she could get to a restaurant before it closed, @spechellephase alleged in her video.
The TikToker says she ended up in enormous pain. "I'm in tears," she recalled.
At the same time, TikTok dentists are coming out swinging against the so-called veneer techs.
@Thebentist called the practice illegal and dangerous in a video with 5 million views — a sentiment echoed by Dr. Ashley Brede Ciapciak, a dentist based in Massachusetts.
Ciapciak said in a TikTok video that there's no legitimate certification for a "veneer tech."
Instead of treating people's underlying dental issues, the techs are covering them up with composite material to form the veneers.
"Illegal dentistry schemes don't know what the heck they're doing," she said.
In a Substack article by HuffPost editor Phil Lewis, consumer advisor spokesperson with the American Dental Association, Dr. Tricia Quartey, said that people with certificates from two-day classes are no substitute for licensed dental professionals.
"I want to make it very clear that dentists are the only ones who should be doing veneers," Quartey told Lewis' "What I'm Reading."
Ragin's tech told The Cut that she has stopped doing veneers and wasn't aware she was doing anything wrong.
She said she paid for training at various programs in Atlanta and Texas, the Cut reported. That veneer tech didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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