Local dentists talk about the dangers of dental models, DIY dentistry and product promotions going viral on TikTok
Written by ALLISON ARBUTHNOT SANDERS
IN THE VIDEO, A BEAUTIFUL 20-year-old woman wearing a black sweatshirt and a high ponytail shifts the baby in her arms on one knee as she leans forward to peer carefully into a small mirror, her lips pulled back in a sneer in a dental cheek retainer.
“Join me to make my own composite skins!” a computer-animated voiceover declares as an upbeat hip-hop song opens with a telling line that “they got cut like a barbie.” Welcome to the weird, resourceful, occasionally terrifying world of dental TikTok.
We watch as the woman uses a stainless steel handpiece to shape the composite veneer around her teeth while the baby snuggles. The video then cuts to a tight shot of her mouth, teeth and tongue glowing neon blue from a treatment light. She then uses an electric sanding tool to straighten the edges of her upper teeth.
In the final shot, the baby is gone and the sweatshirt has been replaced by a tight tank top as the woman smiles a gorgeous, brand new, sparkling white smile at the camera. She is clearly pleased. She never showed us a “before” picture of her teeth, but her “after” looks fantastic.
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What is the problem?
It turns out it’s multiple, just like many of the other DIY dental videos currently trending on TikTok, as the app’s creators — known for their helpful hacks as much as their choreographed dances — turn the spotlight on teeth.
TikTok dentistry videos range from DIY veneers like the one described in a number of other at-home or affordable dentistry: users filing their teeth, moving teeth quickly with rubber bands, mail-order aligners, videos promoting dental tourism (#veneersjourney ) and more. But like a lot of social media, things aren’t always what they seem.
The dangers of DIY dentistry abound, and doing these “hacks” like making your own veneers (or having them done by one of the many discount, unlicensed professionals now operating in Savannah, Atlanta, and the surrounding areas) can definitely save money in advance. However, they can often end up costing much more in the long run in both pain and money.
This was the case for several patients of Dr. Kevin Pfeiffer in Morrison Dental Associates who came to him for help.
“I recently saw a woman who had paid $600 for veneers done by an unlicensed professional,” says Pfeiffer. “They were too big, and because they weren’t balanced right, they were hitting the wrong way and they were already breaking. There were lumpy areas all along the gum line and her gums were all red and inflamed.”
That’s not to mention the issue of invisible decay.
“You don’t always know if you have cavities in your teeth, and when you put things on them, you trap all that bacteria down there,” Pfeiffer says. “Untreated tooth decay can spread to other teeth and lead to infection.”
This is a risk that applies to many at-home dental devices, from mail-order restorations like the Snap-On Smile to cosmetic accessories like dental gems and grills. The results can be truly terrifying, as they were for another Pfeiffer patient, whose upper teeth broke at the gum line after rotting under a grill that he hadn’t removed and cleaned.
When Pfeiffer told the woman with the discount veneers that she would have to remove them to solve her pain, the patient initially refused. She liked them, she told him. She left, willing to roll the dice on her oral health in exchange for a sparkling white, albeit painful, social media-worthy smile.
“The rise of social media has definitely had a major impact on my patients’ ideals of beauty,” says Dr. Abby Dew’s Dental Harbor. “There has been a noticeable increase in interest among my younger patients in cosmetic dentistry. Constant exposure to perfectly edited images has raised the bar for beauty standards, including dental aesthetics.”
“There are so many unrealistic expectations now thanks to social media,” echoes Dr. Christy Harpring’s Howard Family Dental. “People show me pictures from TikTok, saying, ‘I want my teeth to be this white.’ And I say, “This is a potion. It’s not real.'”
Harpring says a lot of the dental work she sees on social media looks “like something out of a horror movie,” even when it’s not DIY. For Harpring, “more concerning” is the tendency of influencers to show their teeth mid-treatment, where their teeth have been shaved into strips, which Harpring likens to “over-prepared crowns” rather than proper veneer preparation.
“These are people who had great teeth to begin with, and now their teeth are completely damaged,” says Harpring. “I just shudder.”
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Not everything is cringe-worthy, though.
“If we could close a gap between teeth in two days with a rubber band, don’t you think we’d be doing it all the time?” laughs her Dr. Stephanie Joy Sweeney Savannah Dental, in response to another unsafe TikTok trend. “However, not everything is shared on TikTok.”
Sweeney recently recorded a series of “blind reactions” to some of the viral dental TikTok videos for Savannah Dental’s TikTok accounttelling people what is safe and what is not.
“Part of why I chose to be a dentist is because I want to help people,” he says. Sweeney. “I think a lot of people who follow TikTok dental stuff do it because they can’t afford to see a dentist and I want to help them too.” Although he calls travel dentistry the most dangerous trend on TikTok, he says the growing awareness of DIY dentistry as a short-term solution is positive.
“I’m all for temporary filling kits as a temporary solution if it’s Saturday morning and you need something to hold you together until you can go to the dentist on Monday,” says Sweeney. “I think you should travel with it, especially if you’re in another country. But I don’t think we should think of any of these things as a long-term fix, and anything that’s irreversible I don’t recommend.”
Dr. Roy Maynard of Georgetown Family Dental Practice emphasizes the importance of maintaining a short-term solution in the short term, but has also seen the positive sides of some dental trends in practice.
“We actually recommend oil pulling for some patients now,” Maynard says, referring to the ancient Ayurvedic practice of swishing oil (usually coconut) around the mouth as a mouthwash to reduce harmful bacteria that cause gingivitis, tooth decay, bad breath and more. a wave of popularity thanks to TikTok.
Maynard says his patients bring a healthy skepticism to the dental trends they see on social media. “My patients are fascinated by what they see on TikTok. But the first question is not so much, “Is there anything I can do?” as much as ‘Is this real?'”
It’s a question worth asking. Authenticity is a real issue in the creator economy and is especially important when creators are selling healthcare content.
“The monetization of social media content raises ethical concerns about people profiting from potentially harmful material,” notes Dew, who worries that creators could prioritize views and likes over the safety of users. users. “There is also the risk of leading viewers to believe in one-size-fits-all solutions that may not adequately address their unique dental problems, overlooking the importance of individualized care.”
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For the estimated 68.5 million adults who lack dental insurance in the United States, according to CareQuest Institute’s State of Oral Health Equity in America 2023 survey, that individual care can seem elusive. There are options, however, that are much safer than DIY care.
“Dental schools are a great option for people without insurance,” suggests Pfeiffer. “In Savannah we also have a clinic that is subsidized by the government income based dentistry, JC Lewiswhere you can get basic care like cleanings, fillings, x-rays and extractions.”
Harpring recommends it Savannah Technical College Dental Hygiene Clinic as a starting point to address issues such as bleeding gums or stains, and most dental offices offer some version of a dental co-pay or savings plan that offers discounted services to people without insurance.
Ultimately, prioritizing dental health over cosmetic appearance will go a long way.
“Emphasizing the importance of early preventative measures such as regular brushing, flossing and treating secondary dental problems before they escalate can go a long way in managing dental costs in the long term,” he says. Cool. And keep dental mail order and TikTok to a minimum. “Dental procedures are different from other beauty treatments. the hair grows back and the skin repairs itself, the teeth do neither.”
