In Depth

unconventional beauty. Gold teeth and grillz of musicians and models have long been shown off for wealth and fashion. The mass popularisation of tooth accessories can be seen in the shift from grillz as an element of hip hop and African American culture to pop music, when Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry became wearers of some of the most expensive grillz ever created. Tooth gems, dyes, and tattoos are other, more niche, offsets of dental fashion. By going against normal dentistry practice, we come to see how much of dentistry blurs the line between function and fashion. By pushing these boundaries, people continuously go into more extreme lengths to achieve their desired look. Every new smile comes with a price.

Million dollar smile

In order to accommodate ever-changing trends and standards for dental beauty, medical tourism has become a key facet of the dental industry. For residents of North America, Mexico is the top destination for beautiful beaches and affordable medical procedures, most notably the city of Los Algodones, also known as ‘Molar City’ for its plethora of dental practices with cheaper prices. In an article for the Huffington Post, Jeffery Young explores the ‘dental mecca’ in order to understand how it came to be the attraction that it is today for people unable to afford dental care or insurance in their home countries. By contrast, the residents of Los Algodones themselves cannot afford the services their city is built around. Just like the social stratification present in the access to cosmetic procedures, the inaccessibility of dental care reflects a systemic lack of basic health care, especially when there is profit to be made. While this phenomena is notably relevant to the United States, the spread of trends and standards for dental appearance also coincides with the global spread of medical tourism.

A quick google search reveals a surprising amount of articles that detail Love Island contestant, Luca Bish’s trip to Turkey for a new set of veneers. The ‘cosmetic-isation’ of healthy teeth extrapolates already inaccessible medical procedures. As such, places like Turkey and Hungary have also become hubs for cheap dental implants and modifications. Medical tourism no longer results solely from a lack of dental insurance or absolute medical necessity, but as a tool for minor celebrities to perfect their image. Medical and cosmetic procedures both shape and are shaped by the economic and social circumstances in which they exist. Veneers increase in popularity when the procedure becomes more accessible and publicly visible. While, simultaneously, the procedure is popular because straight white teeth are indicative of normative beauty. The search for so-called ‘perfect’ teeth is thus a complicated one. Fashion and function battle for priority in the dental industry, and ultimately create a system in which the myth of physical perfection allows us to take our own working bodies for granted.

Dentistry blurs the line between function and fashion

In all of their shapes, sizes, and various materials, teeth are symbols of health, wealth, power and beauty. As much as they are subjected to beauty ideals and the limits of healthcare systems, they are a part of our anatomy that often goes overlooked. In the midst of trends and modifications, we should not forget that teeth are a functional - and essentialpart of our body. As long as we are able to bite, chew and smile with them, they deserve to be considered perfect.