The dental industry is warning Australians against embracing an overseas trend of spending big money to make good teeth imperfect.
An Australian Dental Association (ADA) official said he was worried the trend could sweep Australia.
Adelaide dentist Dr Peter Alldritt, the chair of the national oral health committee of the ADA, said wanting Dracula-like teeth could become a problem later.
“I think one of the common things which people think looks good is to have the canine teeth, which are the ones that are already a little bit pointy anyway, to have those made longer and pointier like a fang, a bit like a pair of Dracula teeth,” he told 891 ABC Adelaide.
“That seems to be a trend that some people are doing. It’s obviously a personal taste, it does not appeal to me at all.”
There is anecdotal evidence local dentists are being asked about cosmetic procedures such as adding a ‘London gap’ between front teeth or the ‘snaggletooth’ trend popular among some young Japanese people.
Dr Alldritt said it seemed unsurprising since tattoos and body piercing had each become popular among Australians.
“People are doing different things to adorn their bodies these days, people are piercing all sorts of parts of their face and body, tattooing is an epidemic these days so I guess we have to accept that people want to do things to make themselves look different,” he said.
“There was a time when there were little things, they called them tooth jewellery, and it was like a little ruby, probably a crystal and not a precious stone, but people would have a little gemstone or love heart bonded onto the front of their tooth. It wasn’t really dentists putting them on, it was really something that was done by the beauty industry.
“That trend seems to have come and gone, which is good, because it is probably not that healthy having something stuck on your tooth with a bit of superglue.”
No reversal option after some cosmetic procedures
Dr Alldritt said anyone considering the desirability of fangs or getting a gap between front teeth added cosmetically needed to consider the long term.
“Just consider what you’re doing now to make yourself what you consider attractive now, what is that going to be like in a few years’ time when you’ve changed your mind and the decision is irreversible?” he said.
“If you want to make a gap between your front teeth and you’ve got to drill away some of the healthy tooth in order to achieve that, that is totally irreversible.
“Enamel is like an insulator for your teeth. If you cut that enamel away or even thin it a bit your teeth will get more sensitive and then they can be more prone to decay as well.”
The Adelaide dentist also warned of the potential for mouth or speech problems.
“If you had a couple of long Dracula teeth done, can you imagine how they would hang down onto your lower lip and obviously that would have to cause some irritation and probably some ulceration to your lip as well,” he said.
“It’s bound to alter the bite if you make one tooth irregular or oversized. Of course teeth will be hitting differently on each other, teeth will be getting different wear patterns on them so really I can’t see any good that can come of this.”
Asked about the possible effects on speech, Dr Alldritt said: “We even see that in people who have missing or crooked teeth because that’s the way their teeth naturally formed.”
He said people with naturally occurring dental problems needed orthodontic work which could be coupled with speech therapy to help them.