Veneers, whitening and dentistry abroad is ruining the basics of oral health says Dentist, Dr Sheena Tanna

The most-watched dental content on TikTok is not about brushing technique or gum health, it is before-and-after smile transformations, veneer reveals and influencers documenting trips to Turkey for a full set of crowns at a fraction of the UK price. What patients want from their dentist has shifted accordingly, and not always in ways that serve their health.
A dental crown is a fixed (permanent) restoration which completely covers or caps a damaged, decayed, or weakened tooth to restore its shape, size, strength, and appearance. In simple terms, it acts like a protective shell placed over a tooth.
According to Dentistry.co.uk, one in three British adults had a cosmetic dental treatment in the 12 months to 2023, with under-35s driving much of that demand. At the same time, the Oral Health Foundation found that more than three in four adults experienced a dental problem in the past year¹. The two statistics do not sit comfortably together.
Ofcom’s Online Nation report found that young women are disproportionately exposed to body-image-related content online, with 25% encountering body stigma and 19% encountering content promoting unhealthy eating or exercise habits². A 2024 Girlguiding survey found that just over a quarter of girls aged 11 to 16 would consider cosmetic procedures to alter their appearance, rising to nearly half of those aged 17 to 21³. Dentists are seeing the effects. Younger patients are requesting whitening and veneers earlier than ever, often after seeing a treatment on a phone screen rather than discussing it with a clinician.
Dr Sheena Tanna, principal dentist at Billericay Dental Care in Essex and winner of Dentistry’s Next Top Digital Dentist 2025, sees this tension play out in her practice regularly. She says “Patients arrive engaged and well-researched about cosmetic treatment options and are keen to discuss all the options available. However, the conversation about brushing, flossing and gum health we often have to have with them because they are not orally fit for treatment is harder to have. The focus has shifted towards how teeth look rather than how healthy they are. A lot of my patients are really engaged with whitening, straightening and cosmetic treatments, but sometimes the basics, like brushing effectively, flossing and gum health are not quite there. They are looking for a quick fix.”
The problem with quick fixes
The appeal of cosmetic dentistry is not hard to understand. Treatments are more affordable than they were a decade ago, financing options are widely available, and the results, when done well, can be genuinely life-changing. But a cosmetically improved smile which has not been built on good underlying oral health will not last.
Veneers require consistent and careful cleaning to stay in good condition. If plaque builds up around the edges, it can cause gum bleeding and soreness, decay underneath and persistent bad breath, not from the veneers themselves, but from the bacteria that gather where cleaning has been under performed. The cosmetic result becomes the problem it was supposed to solve.
“Wanting a brighter smile is completely understandable, but the healthiest smiles are the ones that are cared for every day,” explains Dr Tanna. “Once you have had cosmetic treatment, you need to be even more on top of your cleaning to make sure everything lasts long-term. It does not replace good oral hygiene. If anything, it makes it more important than ever.”
Around half of UK adults are estimated to have some form of gum disease, according to dental health researchers4 and gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. It has also been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. It is not something a whiter smile can fix.
‘Turkey teeth’
The most extreme version of the quick-fix approach is dental tourism. “Turkey teeth” is the phrase that has come to describe the sets of uniform white crowns that thousands of young Brits return home with each year, after having healthy enamel filed down to stumps before the crowns are fitted on top. The process is irreversible. Once done, a patient is committed to crowns for life, and the clinical consequences of poorly executed work can be severe.
Dr Tanna says: “We are seeing cases where teeth have been aggressively reduced to small peg-like shapes, leading to nerve damage, bite problems, pain, and in some cases infection or tooth loss. For a patient having their full set of upper and lower teeth i treated, that is likely to be around 20 teeth. People are often shocked when they hear that number. These are issues that can be complex and costly to correct, and often cannot be undone.”
The British Dental Association has raised sustained concerns about the trend. Its survey of over 1,000 UK dentists found that 86% had treated patients who developed complications after dental work done abroad5. A BBC documentary, Turkey Teeth: Bargain Smiles or Big Mistake?, sent an NHS dentist with perfectly healthy teeth to 120 clinics in Turkey and 50 in the UK. Of the Turkish clinics that responded, 70 recommended replacing 20 or more teeth with crowns. Not one UK clinic suggested any treatment at all6.
Poorly fitted crowns can trap bacteria, leading to infection, abscesses and decay. NHS treatment does not cover resolving complications from cosmetic work done abroad, and patients have no straightforward route to compensation. “More patients are travelling abroad because they are told treatment can be carried out rapidly, but healthy teeth are designed to last a lifetime, and rushing treatment can compromise that. Good cosmetic dentistry requires careful planning to ensure the result is not just aesthetic, but functional and long-lasting,” Dr Tanna adds.
Seeing is believing
Dr Tanna has found that the same digital technology driving the aesthetics trend can also bring patients back to the basics of oral health. “We use sophisticated digital scanners, so we can show patients the areas of plaque and inflammation they are not addressing in minute detail. When they can actually see issues on a screen, it becomes a turning point. Treatments become far more collaborative and patients are much more engaged with their own health, not just how things look.”
Dr Tanna is clear about the order of things. “There is absolutely a place for cosmetic procedures in dentistry, but their pursuit should never come at the expense of long-term oral health. The foundation has to come first; that is when the results are as healthy as they are beautiful, and they actually last.”