Your Most Googled Dental Questions, Answered by Dr. Buleni

We sat down with Dr. Buleni and did something simple — asked her every question that patients are too embarrassed to bring up in the chair. No topic was off limits. From the ones that make you feel guilty to the ones the internet gets completely wrong.

Here is everything she covered.

How Does the Dentist Always Know You Have Not Been Flossing?

Turns out there is no magic to it. We just know.

"We can see the biofilm of the plaque. We can see the calculus. And sometimes your breath just tells it."

Dr. Buleni says she can spot it even in a restaurant when she meets someone casually. The buildup between teeth that comes from skipping flossing is visible to a trained eye immediately. There is nowhere to hide — which leads perfectly into the next question.

Does Everyone Lie About How Often They Brush?

Her answer was immediate.

"Yes. All the time."

You are not alone. Almost every patient overstates how consistently they brush. Dentists know this, account for it, and are not judging you for it. What matters is what is actually happening in your mouth — not the number you give at the start of the appointment.

Why Is Dental Treatment So Expensive?

This is the question most patients think about but rarely ask. Dr. Buleni broke it down completely, and the answer is worth understanding.

A GP's consulting room needs a chair, a desk, and basic equipment. A dental practice is a different world entirely. The dental chair alone starts at R250,000 — and on its own, it does nothing. It still needs a compressor, suction equipment, sterilisation equipment (autoclave), X-ray machines, PPE for every single patient, and a full set of instruments.

"Currently you need a minimum of a million just to open up a practice. And I have not even bought the instruments I use on your teeth yet."

The costs go further. Intraoral X-ray sensors cost around R60,000. A panoramic X-ray machine starts at R670,000. If it includes a CBCT scanner, that is R1.3 million for that machine alone.

Then there are the materials. Not a single dental material company manufactures in South Africa. Everything is imported — mostly from Germany. When fuel prices go up, shipping costs go up, and dental material prices follow. When global supply chains slow down, stock runs out and dentists wait.

"For a crown, 40 to 70 percent of what you pay goes directly to the lab. It is not my money."

Dr. Buleni also made a point that most patients do not consider — dentistry has been at the frontier of digital technology for longer than most industries. CAD-designed same-day crowns, digital scans, AI-assisted crown design. She put it plainly:

"We used AI before AI was famous. We are the healthcare profession that uses the most digital products out there."

The equipment that makes your treatment faster, more precise, and more comfortable is also what makes it expensive to provide. The two are inseparable.

Is Vaping Actually Bad for Your Teeth and Your Health?

A lot of people assume vaping is a softer option because it looks cleaner. Dr. Buleni was straightforward about why that thinking is wrong.

The issue is not the act of vaping itself. It is the chemical load that goes into the body every time someone vapes. The burned chemicals enter the lungs as foreign bodies — substances the body does not recognise and cannot easily break down. The immune system fights them, and that fight is what produces the damage.

"That is when you find yourself with the cancers, with the upper respiratory issues. Some people lose their voices. Oral cancer, throat cancers, lung cancers — because of the chemicals. It is the chemical composition inside your vaping material more than anything else."

The idea that vaping is safe because there is no smoke is not supported by what dentists and doctors see in their practices. The chemistry tells a different story.

How Often Can You Whiten Your Teeth — And Can You Overdo It?

Teeth whitening is one of the most requested cosmetic treatments at Smilez — and one of the most misused when patients try to manage it themselves.

Dr. Buleni's professional approach works in phases. For patients with significantly discoloured teeth, she runs an alternating-day whitening program across three sessions, then sends the patient home with a take-home kit for seven days. After that:

"Please wait six months again before the second session of teeth whitening, to allow your enamel time to normalise."

The reason for that gap is enamel health. Whitening agents work by opening the pores in the enamel to lift staining. Done correctly and with adequate recovery time, this is safe and effective. Done constantly — particularly with over-the-counter products used daily — the enamel becomes brittle.

"If you buy these over-the-counter products and use them every single day, you are destroying your enamel. It cracks, and your teeth become brittle and they break."

Her advice: use whitening products only under a dentist's guidance, because the correct frequency depends entirely on the individual — their enamel thickness, the medications they take, and what the dentist can actually see in the mouth.

Veneers Are Trending — But Should You Actually Get Them?

This was the question that opened up the most important conversation of the session. Veneers are everywhere on social media. They look perfect. They look permanent. And a growing number of people are getting them not for clinical reasons but because they want white, straight teeth without the commitment of braces or the wait of whitening.

Dr. Buleni is not against veneers. But she is direct about what happens when people get them for the wrong reasons — or stop caring for their teeth because of them.

Veneer breath is a real thing.

When someone's teeth are covered by ceramic veneers or crowns, the teeth look and feel smooth and clean. They resist staining. Patients often stop flossing, reduce their brushing, and substitute mouthwash for actual cleaning — because visually, nothing seems wrong.

"The gums suffer. There is that area between the tooth and the gum where you still need to floss and brush. People with veneers tend to just use a mouthwash and feel that because their teeth are white there is no need to take care of them. They end up with veneer breath."

The deeper problem is what happens underneath. Veneers sit on top of natural tooth structure. That natural tooth still exists, still connects to the bone and gum, and still decays if not cleaned properly. The decay just happens in a place you cannot see — hidden under the gum line, under the veneer.

"You will ask why are my teeth getting rotten again, why am I having cavities again? It is because the veneer covered the tooth, but your natural tooth underneath still needs care. It needs extra care, not less."

When are veneers actually the right call?

Dr. Buleni's answer was clear. Veneers and crowns make clinical sense for patients with rampant decay, teeth that have had multiple failing restorations, or structural damage that cannot be addressed any other way. In those cases, covering the tooth is the correct treatment.

What she does not recommend is using veneers as a shortcut to avoid braces. If a dentist has assessed that orthodontic treatment is the right solution for your alignment, veneers placed over misaligned teeth are not an equivalent alternative — they are a more invasive intervention that still leaves the underlying issue unaddressed.

"Preserve your teeth. Do the orthodontic treatment. Do the whitening. Have your natural white teeth. That is better in the long run."

Every question in this video came from real patients — people who wanted honest answers and were not getting them anywhere else. That is exactly why we make these videos. No scripts, no filtered answers. Just Dr. Buleni telling you what she actually sees and what she actually thinks.

If your question was not covered here, leave it in the YouTube comments. We read all of them.

Watch the full video on our YouTube channel. Like, subscribe, and drop your questions in the comments — we read every single one. To book an appointment, WhatsApp us at 082 477 5495 or visit Smilez Dental Surgery at Tasbetpark Center, 8 Boekenout Street, Shop no. 3, Witbank.