I wish the other reviewers weren't right, but the screws DID go through the top of the table and in an effort to minimize the outward dents they caused, I pulled back a bit and now have a super wobbly cheaply made coffee table.  Also, I thought I could just use smaller screws, but it wouldn't catch, so it's still really wobbly. This was the second coffee table I tried from wayfair.  The first one was sent damaged, so I had to return it.  This one just sucks, and I unfortunately missed the return deadline.