About

Veneers or Fake Teeth are a prosthetic dentistry device and procedure in which a cosmetic dentist removes or shaves down a person's real teeth and covers or replaces them with another material, typically a form of composite or porcelain, in an attempt to give them a more uniform and visually attractive smile. While veneers have existed since the 1920s and '30s, viral online discourse surrounding particularly bad or weird-looking examples of celebrities getting them, such as Simon Cowell, appeared online in the late 2010s and 2020s, as well as trends like TikTok Teeth Shaving. Memes referencing the phenomenon of bad veneers or veneer fails also appeared online during this timeframe, similar to the rise of buccal fat removal on the internet. Well-known figures such as Miley Cyrus and MrBeast getting veneers that many perceived as poorly done notably sparked virality around the topic in the mid-2020s.

Origin

Veneers were originally invented by a dentist from California named Charles Pincus in 1928, which were used for a film shoot to temporarily change the appearance of actors' teeth.^[1] Over the following decades, further research, procedures and materials for dental veneers were developed, eventually becoming primarily comprised of porcelain and composite.

Online discussions and media coverage about veneers have existed on the internet since at least the 2000s, but the topic, especially surrounding celebrities and botched veneers, primarily began around the late 2010s, which coincided with a steady rise in search interest in 2019.^[2]

One prominent catalyst for online discourse and memes about veneers in pop culture occurred in late August 2019 with discussion about America's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell.

On August 14th, X^[3] / Twitter user @AliseNavidad tweeted two images of Cowell, including his veneers, with the caption, "Someone please stop working and talk to me about what in the living fuck simon cowell has done to his face" (shown below). The tweet garnered over 25,200 likes and 3,700 retweets in a day. Additional tweets from other users specifically commented about his veneers shortly after.^[6]

In mid-2020 the TikTok Teeth Shaving trend, also known as the Veneers Check, then trended online, which showed people getting their natural teeth replaced with veneers.

For example, on August 10th, 2020, TikToker^[7] @taysb16 posted a video participating in the trend with the caption, "Had to jump on the wagon," receiving over 91,100 likes and 1,200 comments in five years.

Around the same timeframe in mid-to-late 2020, the slang term Turkey Teeth then spread online, which refers to a dental procedure done in Turkey in which people place fake teeth on top of their natural teeth that are filed down before application. The term references the country because patients travel there so the veneers can be done at lower costs.

On April 30th, 2021, Business Insider^[8] wrote an article about the phenomenon, titled "Influencers are flocking to Turkey for cheap fake teeth."

Spread

Throughout the 2020s, discourse about veneers, especially poorly done ones, became increasingly prevalent online as the topic grew.

For instance, on December 23rd, 2022, TikToker^[13] @veneercheck posted a video discussing Miley Cyrus's veneers, which sparked discussions and memes online at the time, receiving over 6,900 likes and 150 comments in roughly three years.

On September 25th, 2023, a thread on the subreddit /r/popculturechat^[9] posing the question, "What’s the worst celebrity veneers we’ve seen?" resulted in numerous replies with references to celebrities who had perceivably bad veneer jobs, such as pop singer Miley Cyrus and NFL coach Rex Ryan. In two years, the post received over 710 upvotes and 1,500 comments.

Additional threads on the subreddit /r/popculturechat^[10][11] continued to discuss the phenomenon in the following years.

On August 3rd, 2024, a post from a since-deleted Redditor to the /r/oddlyterrifying^[12] subreddit depicting someone's teeth being prepared for veneers received over 13,000 upvotes and 530 comments in one year.

On April 24th, 2025, the Instagram^[14] account @lawofbeauty reposted a tweet about young people getting veneers, garnering over 1,080 likes in five months.

On July 20th, Twitch streamer PaymoneyWubby uploaded a video to his YouTube^[4] channel Wubby Clips discussing YouTuber MrBeast's teeth and veneers, which appeared to change multiple times within the same video. The clip, titled "Mr Beast's Teeth Perplex Me," received over 13 million views, 640,000 likes and 9,300 comments in two months.

On September 10th, 2025, YouTuber^[5] MeatCanyon uploaded a video discussing veneers, titled "Veneers are the Worst," which garnered over 1.1 million views, 54,000 likes and 4,200 comments in one week.

Related Memes

TikTok Teeth Shaving

TikTok Teeth Shaving, sometimes referred to as a Veneers Check, is a trend and internet challenge that became popularized on TikTok under the hashtag #veneerscheck as part of the process for people getting their natural teeth replaced with ceramic veneers. Some of the videos include people “shaving” their teeth with nail files or household tools, while others simply show their teeth shaved to tiny pegs after receiving professional treatments to get veneers. Since becoming a trend, several media outlets and dentists have reported on the story and warned that it could lead to permanent teeth damage or dentures at an early age. Several memes mocking the trend have also appeared elsewhere online in the second half of 2020.

Turkey Teeth

Turkey Teeth, also known as Turkey Veneers or Turkey Crowns, refers to a controversial dental procedure done in the country of Turkey that places fake teeth on top of the natural teeth that are filed down to nubs before application. Patients travel to Turkey so it can be done at lower costs. Turkey Teeth are characterized as unnaturally white and box-shaped. Contestants on popular reality TV shows like Love Island have undergone the controversial procedure and viral videos of botched dental procedures have gone viral on TikTok in mid-2022.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References