According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, more than 260,000 minimally invasive cosmetic procedures were performed on patients 19 and under in 2023<\/a>. And while veneers aren\u2019t tracked the same way as injectables, young adults without medical issues are increasingly seeking consults with dentists for an aesthetic upgrade.<\/p>\n Young girls have always been coerced into obsessing about their image \u2014 having the perfect body shape, silky hair, impossibly smooth skin \u2014 but today, it\u2019s getting even more granular. <\/p>\n \u201cNow more than ever, we are staring at our own faces,\u201d says Andi-Jean Miro, a New York City-based cosmetic dentist with several celebrity patients. \u201cBetween Zoom, FaceTime, TikTok and dating apps, it can feel like living with a camera on you all the time.\u201d In that setting, small details become magnified, and perfection begins to feel attainable and therefore expected.<\/p>\n Young women are increasingly growing up believing that cosmetic alteration isn\u2019t an exception, but an expectation.<\/p>\n Social media has also changed how cosmetic work is discussed. Procedures that were once private are now documented publicly, often framed as transparency. Veneer \u201cjourneys\u201d unfold in real time \u2014 even though some of the details are omitted in favor of a pithy, watchable video. Temporary teeth are shown, final results are revealed. The repetition has a normalizing effect. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you see it enough,\u201d Miro says, \u201cveneers start to feel routine, even if your natural teeth are already beautiful.\u201d Celebrities and influencers have played a role in this shift, offering highly visible smile transformations that circulate widely online. <\/p>\n But the images themselves can be misleading. Many of the smiles labeled as \u201cveneers\u201d are actually crowns \u2014 a far more invasive procedure that requires the significant removal of the natural tooth structure. <\/p>\n Even moments that serve as cautionary tales don\u2019t depict the true story. Internet personality Tana Mongeau famously posted a TikTok<\/a> showing her \u201cveneers\u201d falling out, a clip that quickly went viral. What many viewers didn\u2019t realize \u2014 and what dentists are quick to point out \u2014 is that what fell out was likely a crown, not a veneer, a distinction that underscores how poorly understood these procedures have become online. <\/p>\n But that difference is critical in a clinical setting. And once you shave down those pearly whites? Well, that\u2019s that.<\/p>\n \u201cA veneer is an enhancement. A crown is reconstruction,\u201d Miro explains. Veneers cover only the front surface of a tooth and can often be done conservatively. Crowns encase the entire tooth, requiring aggressive drilling. \u201cFor younger patients with healthy enamel, crowns are usually unnecessary. And once that enamel is gone, you can\u2019t get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n Jan Nevidal via Getty Images<\/p>\n Pia Lieb, a dentist, founder of Cosmetic Dentistry Center NYC and a former clinical assistant professor at New York University, sees the effects of this confusion regularly. She describes a generation that examines their smiles with an intensity that was previously impossible. \u201cPatients come in with concerns about a single tooth being slightly longer or less symmetrical,\u201d she says. \u201cThey are zooming in on their own faces in ways that weren\u2019t available even a decade ago.\u201d <\/p>\n Filters and editing tools further distort expectations. Teeth appear whiter, straighter and more uniform than biology actually allows. \u201cYoung women are comparing themselves not just to influencers,\u201d Lieb says, \u201cbut to filtered images and AI-generated faces.\u201d The result is a narrowing definition of what a \u201cgood\u201d smile looks like, one that often excludes natural variation. And that\u2019s dangerous.<\/p>\n While veneers can be appropriate in certain cases \u2014 such as physical trauma, intrinsic discoloration or developmental issues \u2014 both Lieb and Miro caution against treating them as a cosmetic shortcut. Veneers require long-term maintenance and eventual replacement. Plus, they can take a good chunk out of your wallet, running from $500 to $2,500 per tooth.<\/p>\n Over-preparation can lead to sensitivity, nerve damage and restorative work later in life. \u201cThis part is rarely shown online,\u201d Miro says. \u201cCosmetic dentistry is a commitment, not a trend.\u201d <\/p>\n What stands out most about the surge in cosmetic consults isn\u2019t vanity so much as vulnerability. It\u2019s the moment when a young woman pauses a video of herself and wonders why her smile doesn\u2019t look like the ones she sees everywhere else. It\u2019s the slow accumulation of images, comparisons and \u201cbefore-and-afters\u201d that make perfectly healthy teeth start to feel insufficient. <\/p>\n And recent, poignant findings have shown that teen girls process social media content involving body image differently than their male counterparts. Research from 2022 suggests that teen girls reported using TikTok and Instagram<\/a> (where there\u2019s an abundance of content with strong suggestions about body image and aesthetics) more often, while teenage boys use Twitch, YouTube and Reddit. <\/p>\n One problem with this, says Amanda Raffoul, a researcher at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is \u201ca societal acceptance of body dissatisfaction in teen girls as a normal.\u201d In a story by The 19th<\/a>, she explained that this assumption \u201ccan create a dangerous environment for teens to engage in social media.\u201d<\/p>\n Since young women and girls are exposed to more body criticism online<\/a>, it\u2019s worth having real conversations, offline, about what certain dental procedures entail and whether having one is truly necessary \u2014 rather than a byproduct of something we see on an AI-doctored image or in a post from an influencer.<\/p>\n In a culture that rewards polish and uniformity, the pressure rarely announces itself outright \u2014 it builds gradually, until opting out feels harder than opting in.<\/p>\n A smile, after all, is not just another aesthetic choice. It is functional, biological and deeply personal<\/a>, shaped by genetics, age and real life experience. As cosmetic dentistry becomes increasingly normalized for younger patients, the question shifts from whether veneers are beautiful to whether young women are being given enough space \u2014 and enough honest information \u2014 to decide what they actually want. <\/p>\n Sometimes, enhancement is the right choice. But sometimes, the best option is realizing that the smile you already have doesn\u2019t need fixing at all.<\/p>\n![\"\u201cYoung](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/699f462115000067d4019b67.jpeg\")
\u201cYoung women are comparing themselves not just to influencers, but to filtered images and AI-generated faces,\u201d says dentist Pia Lieb.<\/p>\n