How wonky teeth became Hollywood's new status symbol
'That I don't have veneers or Botox – it feels a bit rebellious,' said The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. The British actor – who has prominent front teeth and multiple gaps – has previously spoken about how having not embraced cosmetic dentistry has caused many people to comment on her smile, wondering if her teeth 'are real'. 'I don't think I look very American... It's the teeth… No Americans have my teeth,' Wood joked during a video interview for On Demand Entertainment last month.
Although, maybe that's not true any more? After decades of dental dominance from large and very white veneers or crowns, increasing numbers of young stars – also including men such as Joe Alwyn, Jacob Elordi, Timothée Chalamet, Kendrick Lamar – are choosing to stick with what nature gave them when it comes to their dentistry.
While gap-toothed smiles have long been the acceptable face of quirky dentistry – think Madonna, Elton John, Vanessa Paradis, Lauren Hutton – today's celebrity teeth confidently exhibit characteristics that previously would have been a problem in Hollywood; from over-to underbites, crooked teeth to crowded smiles.
For singer Sabrina Carpenter, it's slight crowding, a rotated tooth, pointy canines and mamelons (the bumps on the edge of a tooth which help it erupt through the gum) that contribute to her endearing youthful smile, says Harvard-educated dentist Dr Sara, who goes by the handle @veneercheck on TikTok. Dr Sara assesses whether celebrities have had work done on their teeth or not. Ariana Grande has 'small laterals, prominent centrals and mamelons,' says Dr Sara, whereas her Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo has 'a diastema [gap between her teeth], no veneers and a stunning smile'. Zendaya has 'rotated teeth, pointy canines' and, in the opinion of Dr Sara, has had some orthodontic work – likely from using an Invisalign straightening device. 'I love it when patients keep the essence of who they are,' she says.
But similarly to those who claim to stay slim while eating junk food, fall pregnant at 50 or have a wrinkle-free face in later life without the aid of treatments, the reality is often a little more complex.
'I treat lots of big Hollywood figures and what they want from their smiles has changed. No one wants the 'done' look any more,' says London-based dentist Dr Brandon Nejati, who runs a cosmetic and anti-ageing dental clinic. 'At the moment I'm working on the smile of an important American celebrity who doesn't want anyone to know that she has had her teeth altered, and some British stars I am working with feel the same – a name that comes up a lot when we're talking about a look to avoid is people say they don't want their teeth to look like Simon Cowell's.'
Cosmetic dentist Dr Rhona Eskander of London's Chelsea Dental Clinic has seen the trend follow through in approaches to cosmetic treatments such as Botox and filler too. 'Patients are very much still having 'tweakments' but they don't want to look like they've had work done to their faces, and it's the same with teeth,' she says. 'I increasingly see clients for cosmetic dentistry who want some cosmetic work, but also to retain features such as a gap between their front teeth. I also see patients who have had their gaps closed when they were younger and then regret it.'
Celebrities too – the actor Dakota Johnson has spoken about her characteristic tooth gap unexpectedly closing when she had a permanent retainer removed: ' I'm really sad about it '. Although patients may not be going so far as to request a misalignment, 'There is a TikTok trend of people using a black marker to create the illusion of a space in their teeth,' says Eskander.
Take, for instance, the rise of increasingly popular alternatives to veneers such as 'micro-layering', a technique that applies very thin ceramic layers over the teeth rather than the 'caps' of veneers. The treatment is one of the most popular at the Nejati Clinic, described as 'the only biological anti-ageing dentistry clinic of its kind in the world' by its founder Dr Nejati. The treatment draws patients from Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America, including Hollywood celebrities.
Nejati, who was a portrait painter at a young age, describes the treatment as being 'like a manicure for the teeth', and says he takes inspiration from the artistic technique of sfumato (used in works such as The Mona Lisa), which hazily blends colours, blurring transitions between them: 'We build up layers, starting with opaque ones. The result you get is very fine and very vibrant with an amazing depth. By the time I have painted 15 to 16 layers on each tooth, the resin is still only 0.3mm in total. When you compare before and after, the result is like night and day, but afterwards people like that others don't notice they have 'done' their teeth.'
While it would be easy to see the undone or 'natural' look that is increasingly popular in dentistry as another step towards body positivity, there is undoubtedly a certain tyranny that goes alongside it (and, of course, the cost – micro-layering starts from £795 a tooth at the Nejati Clinic). Are people who look naturally incredible without seeming to have to make an effort or wear much noticeable make-up (Pamela Anderson, for instance) actually setting more realistic beauty standards or ultimately flexing how good they themselves look without it? Perhaps it doesn't matter – simply amplifying more normal-looking teeth (actor Ayo Edebiri, of cult TV hit The Bear, who has an overbite, bejewelled her two slightly rotated front teeth at this year's Golden Globe awards) will have a snowball effect: the fewer people in the public eye have very done teeth, the fewer people want very done-looking teeth.
'A big thing growing up for me was my mouth, because it was the thing that everyone pointed out and it was the thing that made me different and I'd never seen an actress on TV with teeth like mine,' Wood said in an Instagram video for beauty brand Merit earlier this month. 'When [model] Georgia Jagger did 'Get the London look' [TV advert for Rimmel] and she had the gap teeth, that was a huge moment and I thought, 'No, I am going to put red lipstick on, and I am going to draw attention to it.''
'I've really seen this change over the past five years since Covid, when people have become more health-conscious and the overall look they want to achieve is one of 'natural wellness' rather than uniformity,' says Dr Nejati. 'Patients look like they've changed something, maybe done some whitening, but it is hard to pin down. Ultimately, teeth should be in harmony with the rest of the face.'
This about-face is obviously bad news for anyone who's indulged in the trend of so-called ' Turkey Teeth ' so prevalent on reality TV stars and social media influencers. 'People are seeking reversal of those veneers, having them replaced with things that look natural,' says Dr Nejati. '' Turkey teeth ' are more like the old-fashioned Hollywood veneer look. The new status symbol is when dental work looks undetectable – that is what people at the higher end are having. Usually the dental work that looks the most noticeable is the cheap dentistry.' Natural teeth also retain their feminine and masculine dental characteristics, adds Dr Eskander: ''Feminine' teeth tend to be softer and more rounded in shape, whereas 'masculine' tend to be squarer and more angular. Women's mouths also often feature more embrasures (the V-shaped valleys) between teeth.' People are also accepting a lower level of whitening, she says: 'They no longer desire that 'flashbulb' look.'
Dr Tim Bradstock-Smith has been one of the pioneers of cosmetic dentistry in the UK, having set up The London Smile Clinic in the capital in 1999. He notes that there have always been people in the public eye who have embraced their natural teeth – Willem Dafoe, Chris Martin, Steve Buscemi, Kate Moss, Kirsten Dunst, to name a few – but agrees 'there has been a backlash against veneers, whether deserved or not'.
'Aesthetics are so personal, no one has the right to tell anyone they need to have anything done to their teeth. If someone feels confident, it doesn't matter. But dental issues can cause people to lack confidence and, for those people, fixing them is life-changing,' says Bradstock-Smith. 'Cosmetic dentistry has really moved away from just putting veneers on everything, because adult braces have become so much more comfortable and efficient. Saving and enhancing your own beautiful natural teeth is the best solution overall. Once they're aligned they can be retained in that position – we've very much been at the forefront of that here.'
For performers, too much messing with the mouth can have other knock-on effects. 'If you are a singer, having crowns or changing the length or shape of the teeth with big veneers can affect the sounds that come out of your mouth,' adds Bradstock-Smith. 'Having dental appliances such as bridgework [a device which can replace missing teeth] can mean air can escape. I've just been working on this issue with a patient who is an opera singer.'
Judy Counihan is an executive producer on film and television. She says that while there is more diversity in casting and an increasing number of on-screen roles that embrace natural-looking teeth – even in Hollywood – they're a factor.
'We are definitely seeing a rise of less plastic, less glossy stars, but there is still an industry pressure to conform to many traditional beauty standards,' she says. 'If you're going to have unusual teeth in film or TV, you either need to be a great actor and/or you need to be beautiful. In her White Lotus role, Aimee Lou Wood's teeth are part of her character.' Indeed one of the first lines that Charlotte Le Bon's character Chloe says to Wood's character Chelsea is 'I love your teeth'.
'They're a beautiful idiosyncrasy and match the uniqueness of the role she is playing. The issue with teeth comes if you're not a very good actor and/or very beautiful, that's when they really start to matter because, in a super-competitive industry like this, very distracting teeth can be the final nail in the coffin when it comes to getting a role.'
Counihan cites the 2021 film Don't Look Up, a political satire in which Cate Blanchett plays the host of a morning show.
'Her character is a parody and in the role Cate wears prosthetic teeth in a shade we call Turkish white, because the teeth are a part of the character,' Counihan says. See also Mark Ruffalo in Bong Joon Ho's recent Mickey 17 – he plays a villainous politician with huge prosthetic veneers. 'But if someone was to turn up at an audition with those Turkish white teeth, they would struggle as they're such a dominant feature they make you uncastable in terms of playing another person,' she adds.
'Conversely, a few years ago, I worked on a film where we wanted to cast a really incredible actor in the lead role, but they had teeth so awful it actually distracted from the performance. The movie ended up getting this actor dental work – not to change the shape of their mouth or face – but to almost make the teeth unnoticeable. This person had never had the money for orthodontic care because, as an actor starting out, why would they? It's only in America that people grow up with this high-end extensive dentistry at their fingertips.' And even then, not necessarily. Ayo Edebiri recently told an interviewer she didn't grow up hoping to win acting awards but to have dental insurance.
When it comes to the so-called 'Turkey teeth', those big white sets often aren't veneers (which involves removing a small amount of dental enamel from the front of the tooth before sticking a layer of porcelain on top), but crowns, which are much more invasive.
'Patients are having good tooth structure drilled down to leave only stumps, and then having a cap known as a crown stuck on the top. It's usually completely unnecessary, but whereas orthodontic work takes time, this is sold as a quick fix,' says Bradstock-Smith. 'We have had lots of people come in with a chip or damage to these, and they want it patched up. It's not possible. Teeth aren't the same as hair… If you get a bad haircut, it will grow back. If you drill your teeth down, that's it for life.'
Bradstock-Smith says he also sees problems with the full sets of crowns people are getting. 'Often they're not well-fitting which means the gums get inflamed and recede. Then the whole set needs to be redone. When just getting them aligned and a little bit of whitening can also give amazing results, doing so much more is just such a shame.'
Good teeth, bad teeth or somewhere in the middle, Counihan says there is one factor that is non-negotiable if good actors are to become stars. 'It's charisma,' she says. 'Charisma is the deciding factor when you become a superstar. Good looks are important but it's about that something else behind the eyes. Take Olivia Colman, who has not got conventional teeth but is such an outstanding actor and so charismatic, she can play any character: if she wants to play beautiful she plays beautiful. I think it will be a similar story for Aimee Lou Wood who is so great at – and confident in – what she does that she doesn't have to conform to stereotypes about what a star has historically looked like. I am sure we will see her – and her smile – in a host of different roles in the future.'
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