Would You Wear Plastic Veneers?

“Good teeth,” like other visible aspects of health, has long been a signifier of wealth, but recently the bar for good has vaulted skyward, even as the hygiene standard remains out of reach for many. By some estimates, around 68 million Americans lack dental insurance and access to quality oral care, and the majority of those who haven’t visited the dentist in the past two years said it was simply too expensive to do so.

Charles Pincus was the first cosmetic dentist to make a name for himself, and he did so almost a century ago by resurfacing the mouths of Old Hollywood; as a result, we’ve come to expect a baseline flawlessness when beholding beautiful people during cinematic close-ups. Now that being a successful actor is not a requirement for appearing on a video screen viewed by millions, nor are these teeth simply for movie stars. If there was a brief time when veneers—like sports cars or Birkin bags—were seen as a signifier of having wealth, they have since become—like sports cars or Birkin bags—indicators of the sustained health of one’s wealth. In season two of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, after Nene Leakes’ instantly iconic assertion of her financial solvency (“I’m rich, bitch!”) during a contentious lunch with Sheree Whitfield, Whitfield suggested she prove it by getting her teeth fixed. (Leakes beamed back, grinning: “They’re done! They’re done!”)

A single medium quality veneer can cost around $1,000, give or take a couple of hundred—a full set can easily exceed $10,000. Cosmetic dentists recommend getting your veneers serviced every six months, and they’re likely to require replacement anywhere between a few years and a few decades post-installation. Those looking to fix their teeth on a budget might go to an unqualified veneer tech, to Turkey or Thailand, or to TikTok, where there are some 80 million posts on the topic of “DIY veneers.” It is in this context that a business called Pop On Veneers launched, in 2020, offering custom plastic teeth that fit like nightguards, and cost about $500.

“I don't like to talk about our product as an oral care product,” says Tamar Hakimi, DDS, a sunny woman better known as “Dr. T” in Pop On’s office and marketing materials. Instead, Pop On Veneers are like custom fake eyelashes, 3D-printed in a rigid plastic and made to snap on to existing teeth. Customers can receive kits at home and mail impressions of their mouths to Pop On to be processed into plastic veneers, but many opt instead for the in-person experience, available at Pop On’s physical space, which sits near Manhattan’s Penn Station about as quietly as a carnival barker.

An enormous facade featuring the gaping mouths of happy, probably veneered patients flanks a double-doored entrance. Inside, a waiting room and treatment booths are arranged beneath an unfinished ceiling but also a chandelier raining down black and white pearls. Dr. T explains that it’s vestigial; the space formerly housed a bead store. “I love to bling,” she says, though it's evident from the handbag that remains on her shoulder at all times; a black leather tote with floral motifs and the name TAMAR in rhinestones. “Isaac makes fun of me!”

Isaac is Isaac Hakimi, Dr. T’s husband and Pop On’s co-founder, who has owned the dental laboratory that now serves as Pop On’s nucleus since 2008. Now, on the same floor, around 50 devices that look like orange glass microwaves bake batch after batch of teeth covers. The two founders were college sweethearts—he business, she dental—and Dr. T openly delights in the fact that she brought him over to her line of work. Together they married cosmetic dentistry with direct-to-consumer product.

“It's like my dream come true,” Dr. T told me. After graduating from dental school at Columbia, she saw patients at the university until founding Pop On. “It’s not one or two patients in a chair each day,” she says. “You have an opportunity to empower people to smile on [a much greater] scale.”

“You really feel like you're affecting and changing people's lives,” Hakimi added. He wore a salesman’s smile, and a tie. Together, they mint about 1,000 veneers, or 500 mouthfuls, each day.

Pop On’s product looks like a pageant flipper for adults, but it caters to a much wider demographic: Those who want a perfect smile regardless of their current oral situation. The ideal candidate is any person 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 gaps, so each veneer comes as a full upper or lower unit, which requires some getting used to. They can withstand food and drink, unless the food is sticky or the drink is hotter than lukewarm. While wearing their units, some clients may speak with a lisp. To them, Dr. T cheerfully suggests singing in the shower. This, she says, helps the tongue acclimate to the new surroundings.

Pop On is one of a few DTC businesses that can render at-home impressions into plastic veneers. There’s Shiny Smile Veneers, in Texas, and TruSmile Veneers, also in Texas. Pop On customers can choose from three colors: Hollywood white, natural white, or mature tan. The impression kit or in-office scan costs up to $679 not including perennially available coupons that bring the cost closer to $500. Financing options are also available. Once your scan is approved, subsequent copies can be ordered for $99, making them, if not disposable, seamlessly easy to replace. Compared to standard porcelain veneers, this new guard more closely resembles Charles Pincus’ original product, composite caps that snapped on to teeth and lasted as long as a few days. Contemporary cosmetic dentists seem less than nostalgic for them.

“This is temps as the final product,” says Clement Kairouz, DDS, a cosmetic dentist with Apa Aesthetic in Manhattan known for atelier-quality porcelain smiles. He’s referring to temporary veneers, meant to be worn only to show a patient how the real thing might look. "They’re all connected, so you can't floss,” he continues. “It's a huge food trap.” An improper fit at the gumline could lead to irritation and inflammation.

Dr. Kairouz echoed Dr. T’s distinction between an oral health and a cosmetic product, with typical veneers exemplifying the former and Pop Ons the latter. A one-size-fits-most approach to cosmetic dentistry may be cost-effective, but the discount comes from subtracting dentists, who oversee the patient’s oral health not only during the veneer process but also for the decades to come. Keeping dental problems out of sight may also put them out of mind, allowing them to fester beneath the facade of health. “If you have $500 to spend on your teeth, I would put that money toward a cleaning, an exam, and an X-ray,” Dr. Kairouz says.

Hakimi proudly cites how “70 to 80 percent of purchasers typically get another set within the first six to seven months,” wanting to try a different color. In a short time, the Pop On customer is encouraged to have something like a wardrobe of teeth. Dr. T hopes they’ll want to add accessories, and she and Hakimi are working on sticker packs of temporary decals with categories like Foodie and Romance. At one point, Dr. T retrieves a shoebox filled with her experimental grills, including one inspired by a rhinestone sunset; she turns around, pops it in, turns back, and smiles.

When I ask Hakimi about the type of plastic used to make each veneer, he says, “you know when you go to the deli and get those plastic containers that you put all your food inside, and then you drop it by mistake, and it doesn’t break?” Hakimi said. “Same kind of plastic.”

At this description, Dr. T nearly combusts into a rhinestone supernova. She combusts into nervous laughter instead. “Let’s rephrase that for Allure!” she says. “Because I’ve never heard that in my life!” For one, Pop On Veneers are BPA-free, and thick enough to be durable but thin enough to be comfortable. “The idea is that we wanted to give them something that allows them to pop it on without it being too rigid.”

Dr. T herself has two veneers—the real, porcelain kind—which sit imperceptibly on her two front teeth. When she cracked one of them, on a holiday weekend, she couldn’t see her cosmetic dentist for days. Now, her Pop On Veneers click right on over top. Those, too, will inevitably break, but spares ship quickly. “If someone chips theirs, we can send them a new set the next day,” Dr. T says. “It’s incredible.” She can’t help but smile.

Read more about teeth:

• Teeth Scaling Is Pure, Scrape-y Satisfaction For My Brain

• Some of Us Have Naturally Yellow Teeth and There's Nothing We Can Do About It

• Veneer Replacement Made Me Excited to Look in the Mirror Again

Watch the history of dental care:

Follow Allure on Instagram and TikTok, or subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on all things beauty.

Originally Appeared on Allure