People must continue to take care of their oral health. Dr. Arlene Asante is a cosmetic dentist who always reminds her patients to maintain good oral hygiene and informs them of some of the things that cause their hygiene to decline.
Veneer techs have become popular this year as many people seek an easy, cheap way to fix their teeth. Doctors, including Dr. Asante, continue to warn the community about the unlicensed techs and how they can damage your teeth permanently with no legitimate training or experience.
Dr. Asante spoke with rolling out about the importance of oral health, some of the things the Black community faces regarding oral health, and the truth about veneer techs.
What are your thoughts on veneer techs? Are they safe?
Absolutely not. To put it in context, your body is a temple. I’m not against anything that will enhance your beauty and improve your self-esteem; I’m big on that. If you [can do that] and have the finances, go ahead and do it. However, we want to be safe and [make sure] that whatever we’re doing or [altering] doesn’t affect your overall health. When we go to these veneer techs, unfortunately, they don’t have enough schooling to perform something that is an oral cavity surgery. It’s a dental procedure and a surgery [done] with veneers.
[I] did four years of undergrad school, two years of grad school, [and] another four years of dental school. I’m highly qualified to perform surgery in your mouth. As far as techs, I think they watch two or three videos, and they’re already doing it. I think cost is the biggest thing; we just want the shortcut. But why take the shortcut to possibly having lifetime damage that cannot be reversed? We can try to fix it, it won’t be reversed, but we can fix it, and we are looking at over $20,000 to $30,000 just to fix that. I think that’s a nightmare.
I think [you] want to go to somebody who is qualified and took an oath to always do the right thing for the patient because, as doctors, we’re obligated to ensure that we provide the best care and treatment options. [In contrast], techs [are] just looking at what looks good. It’s so serious to me, and it burns my heart because this is my field. [In] my office, we are trained to help patients come up with the finances and the budget that’s friendly for [them] to help [them] get the teeth and the smile [they] want the right way. So please don’t go into someone’s basement who learned something a week ago and is experimenting [with] something on your teeth that can’t be reversed.
