The Truth About Veneers and “Turkey Teeth” — Dr Ambrish Roshan | Beyond The Smile

Episode page introduction

Dr Ambrish Roshan came to Ireland from Singapore on the strength of a newspaper advertisement and an interview he was certain he had failed. Fifteen years later he is one of the most recognisable aesthetic dentists in the country, an Oral-B ambassador and a regular on Ireland AM.

In this conversation with Dr Ed O’Flaherty he explains the principle that governs everything he does — what he calls the biological cost of treatment. The idea is simple and uncomfortable: every restoration is paid for in tooth structure, and that payment cannot be refunded. “Once we prep a tooth we can’t un-prep it. Once tooth structure is removed we cannot replace it, no matter what we tell ourselves.”

From there the conversation covers how he actually decides between composite bonding and porcelain veneers, why patient age and lifestyle change that answer, where 3D-printed restorations genuinely stand today, and what he sees when patients return from overseas clinics having been sold twenty veneers they never needed.

It is a candid conversation about restraint — and about why the least dentistry that achieves the goal is usually the best dentistry.

What a veneer actually costs you

Every restoration comes with two costs. There’s the fee you pay at the desk — and there’s the tooth structure that has to be removed to make room for it. That second cost is the one patients often aren’t told about, and unlike the first, it can’t be undone.

Dr Máirtín Brennan, whose practice is limited to prosthodontics and implant dentistry, has followed the same rule with every patient for thirty years: “The best treatment is the least treatment.”

It’s a simple idea, but it’s shaped how he actually works. Wherever a tooth can be repositioned rather than reduced to fake that position, he’ll move it instead. As he puts it: “I do a lot less cutting of teeth.”

The reasoning is straightforward. Composite placed without any preparation can be redone, reshaped, or removed later if needed. A prepared tooth can’t go back to how it started. Dr Ambrish Roshan, a guest on our podcast, made the same point more bluntly: “Once we prep a tooth we can’t un-prep it. Once tooth structure is removed we cannot replace it, no matter what we tell ourselves.”

That’s why we’ll usually talk to you about alignment and whitening before veneers come up at all — and why, when veneers are the right call, we’d rather treat eight teeth than twenty. A restoration that needs replacing in fifteen years is a manageable problem. A tooth that’s been prepared beyond saving isn’t.

So if your consultation ends with us recommending less than you expected, that’s not caution for caution’s sake — that’s the whole approach.

“Turkey teeth”: what is actually being sold

Let’s start where Dr Ambrish Roshan starts, because it matters: “We have great dentists everywhere in the world. And unfortunately we have dentists who are more driven by what gets into their pocket — everywhere in the world.” One of the most respected porcelain veneer specialists in the world practises in Turkey. This is not about a country. It is about a business model.

The problem begins with a word. A veneer is a thin facing bonded to the front of a tooth. A crown covers the tooth entirely, and to fit one the tooth underneath has to be reduced on every surface. They are not the same procedure, they do not cost the same in tooth structure, and patients are routinely quoted one while being given the other.

Dr Roshan has tested this himself, messaging clinics through Instagram: “Automatically a treatment coordinator comes back and says, it’s twenty zirconia veneers. And they say veneers. And I say, okay, but I just want my teeth to be whiter — still twenty zirconia veneers.”

What comes home

When these cases return to Ireland, the pattern is consistent: pulpitis, root canal treatment, and fractures — bridges more often than crowns. Patients arrive having had a full arch prepared on all sides, every tooth in the head, and a root canal on every second one, when what they may have needed was some alignment and some whitening.

On longevity, the sales answer and the clinical answer diverge. Dr Roshan asked one clinic directly how long the work lasts and was told twenty to twenty-five years, and that it does not break. “The zirconia probably will never break. But your tooth is going to rot underneath it.”

Before you book

• Ask whether you are being quoted veneers or crowns, and how much of each tooth will be removed.
• Ask why that number of teeth. In a full career, very few patients genuinely need every tooth crowned. “No one needs twenty or forty veneers.”
• Ask what happens if something fails in year three, and who does that work.
• Ask whether alignment and whitening alone would get you most of the way there.

As Dr Roshan puts it: “Think about what it is that you want to change. Speak to someone who can guide you in the right direction — before you get on that plane, before you book the flights.”

FAQ block

What are “Turkey teeth”?

It is a nickname for a package commonly sold to patients travelling abroad: a full set of crowns fitted over heavily reduced teeth, usually in a single short visit, and frequently described as veneers. A veneer is a thin facing bonded to the front of a tooth. A crown covers the whole tooth and requires it to be reduced on every surface. The distinction is not cosmetic — it determines how much of your own tooth survives.

Do I need twenty veneers?

Almost certainly not. Cases where every tooth genuinely needs to be crowned are rare enough that a dentist may see one or two in a full career. If you have been quoted twenty or more, ask specifically why each tooth is included.

Should I choose composite bonding or porcelain veneers?

It depends on how much tooth has to be removed, your age, and your habits. Composite can usually be placed with little or no preparation and can be redone later, which is why it often suits younger patients or anyone still deciding. Porcelain is the finer material and lasts longer, but fitting it is permanent. The rule our prosthodontist applies, and which Dr Roshan echoed independently on our podcast: if a tooth has to be prepared anyway, use the material that will stand the test of time; if it doesn’t, don’t prepare it.

Will composite bonding stain if I drink a lot of coffee or smoke?

It can, and this is one of the few parts of the decision that is genuinely in your hands. Composite is a resin, and heavy coffee, tea, red wine or smoking will show on it faster. Two patients can have identical work done with identical technique and get very different results five years on. If you are not planning to change those habits, we will tell you honestly that porcelain may serve you better.

Can veneers be reversed?

Composite bonding placed without preparation can be removed or replaced. Porcelain veneers cannot be undone, because the tooth has been permanently reshaped to receive them. This is the single most important question to ask before any cosmetic treatment, here or anywhere else.

Are 3D-printed veneers available yet?

The printers exist and the technology is improving quickly, but printed veneers are not yet a routine option. Early results show noticeably more staining than ceramic, and fitting them still requires the same rubber dam, isolation and bonding protocol as porcelain. If the appointment is identical, the argument for the less proven material is weak. We are watching it closely rather than putting it in patients’ mouths.

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