May 6, 2026
Brandon Dillard built what appeared to be a thriving business in Atlanta. He branded himself the city's "top veneer specialist," operated out of a northeast Atlanta office called "A List Smiles Atlanta," and allegedly pulled in more than $4 million, charging clients thousands of dollars for cosmetic dental veneers or veneer training, WSB-TV Atlanta reports (1).
The problem, prosecutors say: he was never a licensed dentist.
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Dillard was arrested in October 2024, when investigators raided his offices. A grand jury indicted him in November on 113 counts, including 54 counts of theft by deception and 24 counts of practicing dentistry without a license (2).
He pleaded not guilty. Now, in a new motion to quash the indictment, Dillard's attorney is arguing all charges should be dismissed because his client had no way of knowing he was breaking the law.
The legal argument
The defense filing states that "Defendants lacked notice that their conduct was in alleged violation of the law" and that Dillard "at all times, believed that their actions and operations were lawful (3)."
The motion points to a course on veneers Dillard completed at the Nash Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina — which the filing describes as "one of the prime destinations for cosmetic instruction in North America" — as evidence he believed he was properly trained (4).
The motion also alleges that Georgia law was unclear on whether applying veneers required a dental license.
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'The statute is not vague'
But legal experts aren't buying it. Former DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James, who reviewed the motion for WSB-TV, weighed in: "The statute is not vague. It lists what the practice of dentistry is. I've read the statute, and it clearly says you can't do things like putting veneers on teeth (5)."
The Georgia Board of Dentistry's own rules make that explicit. Under Chapter 150-14 of the Georgia Rules and Regulations, the fabrication of any dental covering or cosmetic covering — a category that includes veneers — "is included in the practice of dentistry," and no person may perform it "unless he or she is licensed to practice dentistry (9)."
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There's another problem with the 'I didn't know' defense: the Georgia State Dental Board sent Dillard a cease-and-desist letter at the start of 2024 (6).
According to WSB-TV's reporting, he kept performing procedures anyway for months, until the Fulton County District Attorney brought charges nearly eight months later.
James summed up what that means for the defense: "If I were a judge, and you're making an argument that he hasn't been put on notice because the statute's unclear, and then the dental board actually puts him on notice. The argument is over at that point (7)."
What consumers need to know
The case is a reminder of what's at stake when cosmetic dental procedures go wrong, and how much money flows through that market.
Veneers have become one of the most in-demand cosmetic dental treatments in the U.S. According to CareCredit, the average cost of a single veneer is $1,765, with a full set of six to eight veneers averaging $15,486 (10).
At those price points, patients have every reason to verify who is performing their procedure.
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The American Dental Association (ADA) describes veneers as a multi-step procedure requiring removal of tooth enamel, custom impressions sent to a dental laboratory and precise fitting across multiple visits (11). That's work that goes well beyond a short course certificate.
Crucially, the ADA also notes that the process is not reversible once enamel is removed (12), meaning patients who receive veneers from an unlicensed practitioner may have no straightforward path to correcting the damage.
Dillard also allegedly charged fees to train others to become "veneer specialists or technicians" — titles that, prosecutors note, don't legally exist in Georgia (8). This aspect of the case adds another layer of consumer exposure: people may have paid to learn a trade that can't be legally practiced as described.
Before booking any dental procedure, especially cosmetic work, you can verify a provider's license status through your state dental board. In Georgia, that's the Georgia Board of Dentistry (13).
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
WSB-TV Atlanta (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8); Georgia Secretary of State (9); CareCredit (10); American Dental Association (11),(12); Georgia Board of Dentistry (13)
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With a writing and editing career spanning over 15 years, Emma creates and refines content across a broad spectrum of industries, including personal finance, lifestyle, travel, health & wellness, real estate, beauty & fitness and B2B/SaaS/tech.
