A huge facade with the open mouths of happy veneered patients flanks a double-door entrance. Inside, a waiting room and treatment rooms are arranged under an unfinished ceiling as well as a chandelier showering black and white pearls. Dr. T explains that it is residual. the site formerly housed a bead shop. “I like to blaze,” she says, though it’s evident from the bag that stays on her shoulder at all times. a black leather tote with floral patterns and the name TAMAR in rhinestones. “Isaac is kidding me!”
Isaac is Isaac Hakimi, husband of Dr. T and co-founder of Pop On, who has owned the dental lab that has served as Pop On’s core since 2008. Now, on the same floor, about 50 devices that look like orange glass microwaves bake batch after batch of dental caps. The two founders were college sweethearts—he in business, she in dentistry—and Dr. T is openly glad that she brought him to work. Together they married cosmetic dentistry with a direct-to-consumer product.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Dr. After graduating from dental school at Columbia, he saw patients at the university until founding Pop On. “It’s not one or two patients in a chair every day,” he says. “You have the opportunity to empower people to smile [a much greater] scale.”
“You really feel like you’re impacting and changing people’s lives,” Hakimi added. He wore a salesman’s smile and a tie. Together they cut about 1,000 veneers, or 500 bites, each day.
Pop On’s product looks like a pageant flipper for adults, but it appeals to a much wider demographic: Those who want a perfect smile regardless of their current oral condition. The ideal candidate is anyone with at least four teeth. (“Do you have at least four teeth?” is the only question asked in a virtual pre-screening of prospective patients.) A waxier plastic is used to fill the gaps, so each veneer comes as a complete upper or lower unit, which requires some getting used to . They can tolerate food and drink, unless the food is sticky or the drink is hotter than lukewarm. While wearing their units, some clients may slur their speech. To them, Dr. T cheerfully suggests that they sing in the shower. This, he says, helps the language acclimate to the new environment.
Pop On is one of the few DTC businesses that can render home impressions on plastic veneers. There is Shiny smile veneersin Texas and TruSmile veneersalso in Texas. Pop On customers can choose between three colors: Hollywood White, Natural White or Mature Tan. The display kit or in-office scan costs up to $679, not including the ever-available coupons that bring the cost closer to $500. Financing options are also available. Once the scan is approved, you can order subsequent copies for $99, making them, if not disposable, easy to replace. Compared to standard porcelain veneers, this new guard looks more like Charles Pincus’ original product, the composite caps that broke in the teeth and lasted for a few days. Modern cosmetic dentists seem less than nostalgic for them.
