The Unvarnished Truth About Veneers
(Photo: Getty Images)
Growing up, Breanna Sinclair never felt comfortable in her own skin. Over the last two years, the 26-year-old Guelph, Ont., resident has undergone a self-improvement journey, which began after she got out of a toxic relationship. “I was looking for anything that would make me feel better about myself,” she says. That was when she came across composite veneers—a more affordable alternative to expensive traditional porcelain veneers—on TikTok.
“I grew up in a low-income household and I have a seven-year-old daughter, so I never really thought about spending that kind of money on myself,” Sinclair says. But suddenly, the bright white smile she had always dreamed of felt within reach. Sinclair got veneers—10 on top and 10 on the bottom—in March 2025, and she couldn’t be happier with the result. “This is what I’m supposed to look like,” she says.
A veneer is a thin layer of porcelain or composite that is bonded to the front of a tooth to improve its colour, shape, size or positioning. Porcelain veneers are made with high-quality, medical-grade ceramic materials, while composite veneers are made with the same kind of polymer that’s used in fillings. And both are steadily increasing in popularity: According to a report from Grand View Research, the global dental veneers market was valued at US$6.7 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to US$11.45 billion by 2030. North America is the biggest market for veneers; in 2021, it accounted for more than 48 percent of global revenue.
Even those who aren’t getting veneers are fascinated by them. On social media, dentists relentlessly analyze celebrities’ veneers for hundreds of thousands of engaged users. One dentist, who goes by Dr. Sara on TikTok, has amassed 160,000 followers and millions of views by breaking down the dental work celebs may have had done. In one video, she discusses what’s wrong with Taylor Swift’s canine veneers. In another, she explains what makes Kristen Bell’s veneers so good.
Meanwhile, White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood’s gappy teeth inspired online chatter about natural smiles after a mean-spirited 2025 Saturday Night Live skit sparked an outpouring of support for the British actress. “I can’t believe the impact my teeth are having!” she exclaimed on The Jonathan Ross Show. “A real full-circle moment after being bullied for my teeth forever and now people are clapping in an audience because I have these gnashers.”
“Perfect” smiles have long been associated with health, wealth and success. A 2014 study published in The International Journal of Prosthodontics found that participants attributed higher social class to subjects with good dental appearance, while a 2008 study in British Dental Journal found that tooth colour also has a big impact on social perceptions. The study showed that decayed teeth led to negative judgments while whitened teeth were associated with positive appraisals.
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Andi-Jean Miro, a Los Angeles-based cosmetic dentist at Apa Aesthetic, a clinic known for its celebrity clientele, says that the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the biggest influences for the rise of veneers. She calls it the Zoom effect: When nearly all face time became virtual, people were suddenly spending the entire day looking at themselves on screen, which bred new insecurities and led to an interest in corrective dental work. Orthodontic treatments surged in popularity during the pandemic, according to an article in Nature that also cites the “Zoom boom.” And that boom has continued: The American Association of Orthodontists conducted a survey of its members in the U.S. and Canada and found that in 2024, the number of patients undergoing orthodontic treatments has increased by more than 20 percent since 2022.
At the same time, new technology for veneer production and the rise of composite veneers have made smile makeovers more affordable. Veneers—which were invented in 1928 by a California dentist to temporarily improve actors’ smiles for film shoots—were once synonymous with Hollywood. But people with extensive dental work on social media and reality TV normalized veneers to viewers at home.
Getting porcelain veneers can take anywhere from two to five appointments, each lasting one to three hours, says Beatrice Leung, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s faculty of dentistry. (Composite veneers can often be done in just one visit.) The process starts with an examination to determine whether a patient is a good candidate for the procedure—meaning they have a strong tooth surface for bonding and their smile can be fixed just by partially changing the shape of the teeth with veneers, rather than other corrective therapies like braces or surgery. Then, the dentist scans the teeth and designs the new smile digitally, says Leung. “We can also give you a mock-up to test drive the smile we’re aiming for.” If that mock-up looks good, the dentist shaves the patient’s teeth down to make room for the veneers and bonds them to the natural teeth with dental cement. For composite veneers—which are more affordable but less durable, less stain-resistant and can look less natural—the dentist will bind the polymer to the teeth and reshape them.
The procedure can be expensive. Leung, who is a prosthodontist—meaning she specializes in veneers, crowns, bridges, dentures and implants—says that veneers can cost anywhere between $500–$3,000 per tooth depending on the clinic and the complexity of the case. Composite veneers are on the lower end of that spectrum.
Carli Whitwell, a 42-year-old journalist in Toronto, was a perfect candidate for the procedure. Her natural teeth are small and didn’t need to be shaved down. Whitwell previously worked at lifestyle publication Refinery29, where she got four porcelain veneers as a part of a video series highlighting the newest and buzziest beauty procedures. Veneers were always a bucket-list item for Whitwell, so she jumped at the chance to get her teeth done in Los Angeles by Miro.
She was pleasantly surprised when she saw that her veneers were textured and a little discoloured, like her natural teeth—it was her smile, but enhanced. “[My veneers] just make me feel more like me,” she says, adding that while the cost was covered through her work, she would’ve happily paid for them— anywhere from US$3,800–$5,000 per tooth at Miro’s clinic.
Whitwell and Sinclair have veneer success stories, but not everyone does. Lauren Sundstrom, a 36-year-old Vancouver-based content creator, got composite veneers when she was 17 after she was bullied for the gap in her front teeth. This spring, she had them removed. The cost of repairs and maintenance, she says, was not worth the look; she estimates she completely replaced her veneers at least five times in 20 years due to cracking. The tipping point? When a “gigantic” chunk of veneer fell out while she was eating some ribs. “I said, ‘Oh, I’m done with this.’” Like Whitwell, Sundstrom did not have to have her teeth shaved down to prep for veneers, which made for an easy removal and return to her old smile. “Removal has been the best decision,” she says. (She experienced minor gum irritation after her veneers were removed, but only for 24 hours.)
Aside from general wear and tear, there are other, often more serious risks associated with getting veneers. Leung says that she sees a lot of the worst cases in her office—typically people who travelled to countries like Turkey, Mexico and Colombia for cheaper dental work and come home with gum disease and other disorders.
Leung adds that a lot of patients are unaware that veneers are permanent for most people. “Once a tooth is prepped, it’s forever prepped,” she says. “We can’t remove the veneer and leave the tooth unprotected.” Underneath the veneer, the prepped tooth is extra sensitive. Porcelain veneers are designed to last two to three decades, but just like real teeth, they can be damaged. Whitwell was warned by Miro that she’d likely need to get hers replaced every 15 years or so. “I plan to save accordingly,” she explains, adding that she’d researched the process beforehand and knew exactly what she was signing up for.
There is a lot of care involved in maintaining veneer hygiene and health. “You need to treat [veneers] like your own teeth,” Leung says, which means regular brushing and flossing. “The tooth is still there, just partially covered; where your own tooth may be exposed, it needs maintenance, otherwise you can be at risk for cavities and gum disease.” Brushing frequently also helps curb bad breath, a common issue that arises when food and bacteria build up in veneers that were not properly fitted or bonded.
A “perfect smile”—whatever that means for the patient or for society at large—is now faster, easier and cheaper to attain. But dental trends come and go at a frenetic pace in the age of social media, which makes choosing veneers a bit of a gamble. While ultra-white, square-shaped teeth were in vogue about 10 years ago, today’s veneers have a more natural appearance with texture and translucency. As for what tomorrow’s ideal smile might look like? All bets are off. —with files from Sarah Bauly
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Rebecca Gao is a Toronto-based journalist interested in all things climate, food, entertainment and early aughts teen movies.
