The Veneer Techs: On Their Way To Your Locality
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- Published: Monday, 13 May 2024 06:34
- Written by Peter Ingle
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There will always be a section of the public with an unerring instinct to seek out the most doubtful providers for their dental care. Whitening by beauticians, orthodontics from Smile Direct, and of course the excesses of “Turkey teeth” have all found eager customers.
In each case the profession has identified and spoken about the risks, and some of the public have listened and some have not. A proportion of the ‘not’ category end up in our practices, older, wiser, poorer, and expecting our help. So it may be time for dental teams to prepare for the arrival of Veneer Techs, or their former clients, in the UK.
A dubious dental trend has really arrived once it starts being written up in the media, and we can thank Forbes magazine, provider of the eponymous lists, for its guide: “What To Know About Viral ‘Veneer Techs’—And Why Dentists Warn Against Them.”
Veneer techs illegally place veneers on patients, typically after completing a two-day training course that costs from $2,000 to $3,000. At the end of the course they receive certificates of completion, which may look very impressive to a lay person but do not certify them to perform dental work.
Jandra Korb, dental director of healthcare company DentaQuest, explained that licensed dentists have National Provider Identifiers they use at licensed dental suppliers, where they can then purchase products and instruments. In contrast some some veneer techs use materials from false nail suppliers for their procedures, while others buy their equipment and materials from sites such as Amazon or Temu.
It fell upon a periodical that describes its audience in terms of wealth advisers, business and tech decision makers, and those of high net-wealth, to explain to its readers that “dentists are the only people who are legally allowed to perform veneer work, so veneer techs are ‘playing a risky game with patients’ health’ since they may lack the proper knowledge on sterilization and dental health that formally trained dentists have.”
The subject had gained exposure when an Instagram post of a veneer tech posing with his certificate of completion went viral on social media, leading to questions about what exactly a veneer tech does. Dentists then took to TikTok to persuade people from getting work done by the techs, and to warn their state licensing boards.
Dentist Ashley Brede Ciapciak, has made several TikTok videos about the dangers of veneer techs after a tech—who has since made her account private, went viral on the platform for performing botched work on a client. One unhappy TikToker claimed that she drove over seven hours and paid $1,500 for an unlicensed veneer tech, who was working in the back of a barber shop, to do her veneers, though they only lasted two days.
The Forbes story went on to provide a good description of different types of veneer as well as warning of some of the possible other adverse consequences of having treatment from an unlicensed operator with minimal training.
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