To enable a porcelain veneer to stay on through the bites, chews, and gnawings of daily life, the healthy enamel of the tooth needs to be sanded down to create a rough surface for the veneer to be stuck onto for the next 10 to 15 years. Usually, a patient will also have their teeth drilled to a degree, since it’s necessary to smooth sharp edges or make more room for a veneer to fit perfectly. (If the original teeth are perfectly straight with no sharp edges, veneers that require no prep are possible, but those circumstances are exceedingly rare.) Even with minimal drilling, though, your teeth will never be the same. “No dentistry is reversible,” says Dr. Sam Jethwa, a London-based cosmetic dentist. “Once you stick something [to a tooth], you’re sticking it to last.”
The many faces of veneer regret
Plenty of celebrities have been public about regretting their veneers, including Bad Bunny, who’s opened up about the physical pain they caused him, and Kehlani, who’s spoken about her “cheap” resin veneers. Influencer Alix Earle also wishes she had kept her natural teeth intact. A GRWM TikTok Earle posted last summer began with her taking out what appears to be an emery board and filing down her front teeth, explaining that one of her veneers had chipped the previous night while she was talking to Kate Hudson aboard the Ritz-Carlton’s super-yacht. (A lot to unpack there, but let’s focus on the teeth.) As Earle moves on to blending her foundation, she proceeds to tell her audience that she had gotten the veneers the previous summer, but “I didn’t talk about it because I didn’t want to influence anyone to do it because I don’t think you should.” Her own regret was immediate, she says with tears in her eyes: “I was like, ‘What did I just do? I had such good teeth, and now… I’m going to have to keep up with this for the rest of my life.’”
Earle’s dilemma seems to be the issue for many frequenters of the /porcelainveneerstruth subreddit. “I had healthy natural teeth and did this purely as a cosmetic procedure due to my gapped teeth and thinking they were too small,” one Redditor wrote. “They weren’t perfect, but they were my real teeth…. I feel so upset and so much regret for choosing veneers. I find myself constantly wishing I could go back and undo the decision.”
Scroll through the subreddit’s page for a few minutes and you’ll find much of the same story: Someone with healthy teeth got veneers to fix something minor, like a chip or a gap, and is now dealing with anxiety about the long-term maintenance and costs of their permanent dental decision. (Though procedures vary widely, a full set of veneers can run anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars—and remember, they don’t last forever.) “Many were never fully informed about conservative alternatives, such as Invisalign, whitening, or enhanced additive composite bonding,” Mike, the founder of Beauty Beyond Veneers and lead moderator of the subreddit, tells Allure in an email. “Patients also did not realize that permanent enamel removal could lock them into an irreversible cycle of ongoing maintenance, future replacements, financial strain, and lifelong commitment.”
Mike’s own veneer experience started in 2003, when he was 18 and wanted to treat a small chip. “I was told that the chip could not be repaired and that I needed six porcelain veneers. I now know that was not true, yet many patients are still being told the same thing today,” he says. A family member paid $6,000 for Mike’s dental work. “At that age, I did not fully understand the lifelong consequences of permanently removing healthy enamel,” he adds. “I later had the veneers replaced, and over the years I experienced ongoing concerns with their appearance, my bite, discomfort, and the feeling that my natural smile had been permanently altered.” All in all, Mike has spent around $52,000 on veneers and other related dental work over the last 23 years.
