Sir, I read with interest recent letters acknowledging the increasing influence social media has on patients' views of their dentition.1,2

Currently, composite bonding is gaining exponential interest, commonly advertised on platforms such as Instagram under tags of 'smile makeover', 'no injection, no drilling', 'smile design' etc. The growth in demand for the perfect smile is synchronous with a generation that uses multiple social media networks, thereby propelling the market.

The advent of dental tourism means some patients go overseas for their makeover, returning with extensive veneers, crowns and bridgeworks, often with a very short lifespan, mostly as a result of poor patient education. One can argue that composite bonding is minimally invasive in comparison, hence the much preferred and safer option. However conservative, these treatments are rarely truly reversible, and it is inevitable some tooth structure will be removed with each replacement, when they stain, fracture, or develop caries.

The Steele Review3 highlighted a demographic bubble of the 'heavy metal generation' from the 1950s-1970s who have retained most of their teeth but are heavily restored with amalgam. I wonder if we are repeating this phenomenon with the creation of the 'smile makeover generation', which in the next few decades will present a different restorative challenge as we know that no treatment is permanent. I trust these patients have consented to a lifelong commitment to dental treatment, and dentists offering smile makeovers have carefully selected only those proved capable of maintaining their dentition. Hopefully too, the NHS will not have to foot the bill for eventual failure of these treatments.