A new wave of TikTok trends has dentists cringing and warning young people of “Do It Yourself” dangers when it comes to teeth.
DIY dental “hacks” have gone viral on the social media platform and can range from short tutorials on how to make your own veneers to prying off braces with a spoon.
Several dentists have spoken out on TikTok, reacting to the skin-crawling ideas some people have come up with to “fix” their teeth.
One dentist on TikTok known as The Braces Guy warned viewers that even if a person did manage to pry off their braces using a spoon, they would still need to be evaluated since the brace residue would still be on the teeth. Not to mention it’s likely their teeth would begin to shift back without getting a retainer, meaning they’d need braces all over again.
“Also don’t use a fork,” he added.
Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS
DIY dental “hacks” have gone viral on TikTok and can range from short tutorials on how to make your own veneers to prying off braces with a spoon. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Another DIY video showed a woman filling in the spaces between her teeth with dental filler.
“I am a dental assistant and I literally stopped breathing when I realized what was happening,” one person commented. “Please don’t do this.”
Others explained how the filler would trap bacteria next to the teeth, causing decay.
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Monkey Business Images
Photo Credit: Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock
The challenges facing the healthcare sector in the U.S. are numerous. The U.S. lags behind other developed nations on many key metrics of health, including life expectancy, chronic disease burden, and avoidable deaths. The population has been growing older on average with the aging of the Baby Boomers, creating increased demand for health services. Longtime public health challenges like obesity, substance abuse, and mental illness have wide-ranging impacts on Americans’ overall health and well-being. And in the last few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed unusually heavy strain on healthcare providers and hospitals.
With these many interlocking and compounding challenges, the U.S. spends heavily to support the healthcare system. According to federal data, national health expenditures in the U.S. total $4.1 trillion per year, making up nearly 20% of the nation’s GDP. The bulk of this spending comes from the federal government, which contributes 36.3% of expenditures, and U.S. households, which account for 26.1%.
Often underappreciated in discussions of the U.S. health system is the role of state and local governments. States and localities frequently fund public hospitals, health inspections, mental health and substance abuse programs, water and air quality programs, and payments to private hospitals for public health services. State and local governments funded 14.3% of total national health expenditures in 2020.
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This spending is one of the most significant budgetary responsibilities of state and local governments. Health and hospitals represent the third largest spending category for state and local governments, behind only public welfare and elementary and secondary education. Collectively, governments spend $345 billion on health and hospitals each year, accounting for nearly 10% of all state and local spending.
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State and local spending on health and hospitals on a per-capita basis has also grown over time. In the year 2000, state and local governments spent $678 per capita on health and hospitals in inflation-adjusted dollars. By 2020, that figure had risen to $1,040—an increase of more than 50%.
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However, this trend has not played out the same in all locations. In fact, 13 states have seen a decline in health and hospital spending per capita over the last decade, led by Arizona, where spending has declined by more than 50%. In contrast, other states have seen rapid growth in health spending. Vermont’s inflation-adjusted state and local spending per capita more than doubled between 2010 and 2020, from $355 to $730, and Utah’s 96.2% rate of growth was not far behind.
Just as trends in health spending have varied by geography, total spending also looks different from state to state. Nationwide, states and localities spend around 9.9% of their budgets on health and hospitals, at a total of $1,047 per capita. But a number of states and localities spend well above these figures, including Wyoming, where the per-capita spending is nearly triple the national average, and South Carolina, where health and hospital spending represents nearly 20% of state and local expenditures.
The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau. To determine the states that spend the most on health and hospitals, researchers at HowtoHome.com calculated health and hospital spending as a share of total spending. In the event of a tie, the state with the greater total health and hospital spending per capita was ranked higher.
Here are the states that spend the most on health and hospitals.
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Agnieszka Gaul / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 10.7%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $999
- Total health & hospital spending: $6,747,518,000
- Total direct expenditures: $62,806,487,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 10.7%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,061
- Total health & hospital spending: $9,112,433,000
- Total direct expenditures: $85,243,956,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Photosbykaity / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 11.2%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,078
- Total health & hospital spending: $10,748,283,000
- Total direct expenditures: $95,700,844,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Roschetzky Photography / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 11.3%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,013
- Total health & hospital spending: $29,753,376,000
- Total direct expenditures: $263,279,685,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Andriy Blokhin / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 12.2%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,677
- Total health & hospital spending: $66,029,051,000
- Total direct expenditures: $541,102,413,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: photo.ua / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 12.8%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,289
- Total health & hospital spending: $4,190,560,000
- Total direct expenditures: $32,812,538,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: f11photo / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 14.0%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,557
- Total health & hospital spending: $4,925,808,000
- Total direct expenditures: $35,283,924,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: mahaloshine / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 14.0%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,623
- Total health & hospital spending: $12,487,009,000
- Total direct expenditures: $89,455,201,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: picsbyst / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 14.2%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,208
- Total health & hospital spending: $7,431,898,000
- Total direct expenditures: $52,380,770,000
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Henryk Sadura
Photo Credit: Henryk Sadura / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 15.5%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,561
- Total health & hospital spending: $4,548,137,000
- Total direct expenditures: $29,333,928,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 17.1%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,597
- Total health & hospital spending: $4,736,972,000
- Total direct expenditures: $27,688,049,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Rob Hainer / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 18.7%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,687
- Total health & hospital spending: $8,302,347,000
- Total direct expenditures: $44,406,818,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Jon Bilous / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 18.8%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,665
- Total health & hospital spending: $17,650,732,000
- Total direct expenditures: $93,667,411,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Jacob Boomsma / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 18.9%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $2,936
- Total health & hospital spending: $1,709,488,000
- Total direct expenditures: $9,029,287,000
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: f11photo / Shutterstock
- Health & hospital spending as a share of total: 19.3%
- Total health & hospital spending per capita: $1,787
- Total health & hospital spending: $9,326,575,000
- Total direct expenditures: $48,273,596,000
Assistants aren’t the only ones chiming in. Hygienists, students and longtime doctors are ganging up against the TikTok projects.
Many viewers are advocating for the hacks for one particular reason in the comments: Going to the dentist is just too expensive, they say.
“If dental care wasn’t so expensive in America she would probably get them professionally done,” one viewer said on the video of the woman filling in the gaps in her teeth. “Many people don’t have thousands of dollars to fix.”
“People saying don’t do this must have that dental insurance money,” another said.
For every adult over the age of 19 without medical insurance, there are three without dental insurance, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.
Some TikTokers who regret doing dental DIY work are now speaking out, too, including one woman who said she had such bad pain after trying to straighten her teeth with a nail filer that she had to go into the dentist to get it resolved anyway.
Some viewers urged for people to look into making an appointment with accredited dental schools instead of taking dental matters into their own hands.
“There are so many dental schools that need patients if you don’t have insurance,” one person said.
Patients can get discount work at dental schools and many services are offered for much cheaper than a regular dentist office, according to Colgate. Students may take longer than a normal appointment and be less personal, the toothpaste brand added.
Popular TikTok figure and dentist Ben Winters told NBC that anyone considering a DIY dental project should remember that teeth damage can be irreversible.
“This is a permanent decision. These teeth are not coming back, you’re not getting anything else,” Winters told NBC. “Lip filler can be dissolved. Botox goes away. If you get implants, you can have them removed. Once you alter the shape of your teeth, that is gone forever.”
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