When Sara Hahn, DMD11, first uploaded a video of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s teeth to the social media entertainment platform TikTok, she had no idea how far a reach it would have. Overnight the 1-minute video analyzing Swift’s dental work, including a set of veneers, received over 1.3 million views and 125,000 likes.
Growing up, Hahn was surrounded by connections between dentistry and medicine. Her mother, Eun Hahn, DMD84, PD87, attended Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) where she completed her DMD program and prosthodontic residency. Her father, Jin Hahn, MD82, attended Harvard Medical School. Hahn jokes that she already had one foot in the door since her mom was pregnant with her when she graduated from HSDM’s DMD program.
“She was born in 1984 at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital,” said her mom. “I would occasionally bring her to the lab [at HSDM] when I had lab work to do.”
Hahn always had a fascination with art and medicine. It wasn’t until midway through her undergraduate program at Occidental College that dentistry would become her calling.
“It was very roundabout,” said Hahn. “I was first interested in medicine, but I also really enjoyed glassblowing and ceramics. Then I thought about pursuing psychology. I ended up in my junior year of college with the realization that I might enjoy dentistry because it combined a lot of my interests.”
After finishing up her dental degree at HSDM, Hahn moved back to California to pursue prosthodontics at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Dentistry. She taught at UCSF part-time for five years, before transitioning to work full-time with her mom at Hahn Prosthodontics in Fremont, CA.
“I moved to California and in 1993 opened a dual specialty perio/prosth office with my classmate Dr. Hwa-Ying Claire Wang, PD86, DMSc86, DMD88,” said Eun Hahn. “A lot of colleagues asked me how I managed to have Sara follow in my footsteps, and I sort of laugh because I didn't do anything. I never suggested that she explore dentistry – maybe that’s the secret.”
Alumna’s popular “Veneer Check” Unveils Celebrity Dental Work on TikTok
Passionate about teaching, Hahn has always helped break down information into bite-sized pieces for others to comprehend – whether it’s educating a new patient about a procedure, assisting students with research, or answering a friend’s dental question.
“My friends would constantly text me and ask if this celebrity or that contestant on the Bachelor had veneers,” said Hahn. “I would do a quick Google search and then reply.”
As the requests from others became more frequent, one of Hahn’s friends suggested she start a TikTok account. So, in March of 2022 Hahn did just that, providing a fun way to share educational dental content with a large audience of people who are often confused about what a veneer is.
“On TikTok, there is a huge trend of young people getting extensive veneer treatment and documenting their experience. Some videos showed teeth that have been iatrogenically damaged or over-prepared, and it was really shocking to see this.”
Knowing her audience, she offers an objective analysis of the teeth and dental work done on celebrities to show the potential advantages and disadvantages of veneers. With over 116,000 followers and growing, her platform, @VeneerCheck, has analyzed the dental work performed on celebrities such as Dolly Parton, Pete Davidson, Jojo Siwa, Jim Carrey, and others.
Sharing the potential pitfalls of veneers, Hahn has had many young followers reach out to her to thank her for helping them appreciate their natural teeth. They often realize they no longer want a full set of veneers. During a time when unrealistic images of perfection dominate social media feeds, Hahn provides an important perspective.
“I love being able to solve people's problems,” said Hahn. “I like looking at a mouth and having an idea what it will look like in 5, 10, 20 years.”
You can follow Hahn on TikTok, @VeneerCheck.
