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Does Tyra Banks know this? Models with gap-toothed grins are in -- that's what the Wall Street Journal (arbiter of all things hip) is reporting. The diastema, according to the newspaper, is one of the most sought-after physical features at this year's fashion week in New York.
A gap-toothed smile can be "fixed" with braces, dental bonding or even porcelain veneers. Of course, that's only necessary if you consider it a flaw. A handful of celebrities sport gappy grins, like Madonna, Elton John and "True Blood's" Anna Paquin. And it's said that all the hottest ladies in the 14th century had gaps between their two front teeth; it was considered was a symbol of lustfulness, and the fictional poster lady for it is Geoffrey Chaucer's "gap-toothed wife of Bath" in "The Canterbury Tales."
As turns out, those kids with their gapped teeth from tongue piercings may have been onto something.
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People must think something can be put thru that little hole...lol.
Next year, it will be pasty white skin and 40 extra pounds -
Let's hope so!
I CAN HEAR IT NOW....HEY WHEN YOU ARE MAKING MY CHOPPERS PLEASE PUT A GAP BETWEEN THE TEETH...this is soooo ridiculous...why don't we try and focus on the smutt that is being drummed into the youth of this world...like that GAGAG person and Katy Perry...omg now there's two that are a few sandwiches shy of a picnic...and all you parents out there letting their children listen to these 2 need their heads examined....hey moms and dads just listen to the lyrics ....I am still trying to pick my jaw off the floor....and watch their videos too...
Cant wait for next year then. :)
Looks like having big, exposed gums, small irregular teeth, and thin lips are also in vogue this year.
The fashion world has finally embraced real women!
No thanks. I mean, if you have a gap and don't want to fix it, fine, but expecting people to get pierced or whatever they need to do to make their teeth gap in the same way you expect women to become a size 0 to become accepted because that's the fashion trend du jour? No thanks.
Won't last.
Well, I wouldn't want one, hip or not. Nor would I want a gummy, thin lipped smile. But if I did have
any of those things it would be okay. so what? Better that than lips plumped to look like hot dogs. I predict that soon flat chests will be hip. People get tired of everything and soon it will be hip to look like a flapper.
Ray Davies of the Kinks has always had a gap, and he was NEVER a "Dedicated Follower of Fashion".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXaO3zgaf5Q
131DA2B2-D646-11E5-D743-C4DBB6B78E37
1.03.01
Stuff like that is a sure sign that people don't have enough really important things to focus on. Who cares whether they have a gap or not?
Melissa,
Do you control the 'links' referenced in your article? Because I can't believe your best reference for the 'Wife of Bath' was that barely literate piece -- it's appalling, juvenile and written at about high-school level. Surely there are better examples to link to.
Robert
Ridiculous!!!! But so is high fashion!!!
I only have 6 teeth. Three top and three bottom. I feel beautiful.
Everybody knows people with gaps in their teeth are huge liars!(and if boys touch themselves they will grow hair on their palms)although the latter isn't true (I don't think)the first certainly rings a bell! this generation is sooooo lost, who in their right frame of mind would listen to some coked-up girlieboy, so-called fashion guru?unless these dingdongs are attending the same ding a ling only parties? please get a clue get a life get off the dam planet and don't go to mars cause they don't want you!
Hell, my elder brother had that gap and he thought it was cool because he could spit between his teeth. Other than that, it was just there.
Hey, it gives us something to aim at!
gap tooth used to be associated with sexuality in the past. i have gap tooth, it has never bothered me much. It's way easier to keep things from sticking between your teeth. so imagine my shock when bald-headed Tyra went off a contestant on america's top model for having one. if i remember correctly, she actually had to get rid of it! sad.
Had a gap. Closed the gap. Happy now.
My dentist recently asked me if I was happy with the spaces between my teeth. I am now hyper-focused on my teeth and looking at everyone to see if they have natural teeth or choppers, etc., trying to decide what looks "normal". My best description of normal is unremarkable--that is: not too white or too close together or far apart, not too big and not too small, not gummy, no jewels or spinach.
I really wish he hadn't said anything!
Don't worry about it!
It's a marketing tactic that's popped up, as far as I know, during the recession. I was asked my by dentist if I was happy with the whiteness of my teeth. Yeah, I am, thank you very much.
They're fishing for more money... They might need it, they might not, but if there's no medical reason to alter the amount of space between your teeth (not fix), then don't do it! Use the money on something better.
A massage comes to mind, personally... or a nice dinner out. Or two. A weekend vacation.
this is old news. January 2010 this was posted already
In the age where women long for perfection and will seek it out by any means possible, a new trend towards imperfect teeth seems oddly refreshing. Remember several years ago when celebs whitened their teeth so much they almost looked blue? And all those stars who got way-too-big veneers that resembled Chiclets? Well, with stars like Anna Paquin and supermodel Lara Stone sporting adorable gap-toothed smiles, dentists are saying more and more people are leaving their natural tooth spacing alone, or having procedures done to get their original tooth gap back!
"We've overdone it with aesthetics," says cosmetic dentist Dr. Laura Torrado. "If your teeth are too white or too big, it looks unnatural so people are coming back in to make their smiles look more natural," she says.
But famous faces with gapped teeth are nothing new. Madonna, Lauren Hutton, Jane Birkin, Vanessa Paradis, Jennifer Hudson, Amy Winehouse, Shannon Doherty, as well as male celebs like David Letterman, Mick Jagger, Elton John, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eddie Murphy, Elijah Wood, Samuel L. Jackson have all been immensely successful without touching their teeth. Their gaps add character.
Is it true that Buddy Holly used a Chiclet to fill in for a tooth lost just before a show?
I can't stand gaps between anyone's teeth, it's so easy to fix and it just looks like they don't care about how they look. I think it kinda looks "Hillbilly" and ignorant.
It *isn't* easy to fix. At least it wouldn't be for me. I was told they would have to go into my gum, cut the muscle and put on braces to close the gap. THEN, I would have to wear a retainer for the rest of my life or they would grow back apart.
I do care about how I look. It doesn't bother me, my family or any of my friends (especially the ones with GAPS).
Now who is the ignorant looking one?
Same here. 3 years of braces fixed my bite, but didn't change the gap. I was told I'd need surgery and a retainer for life or possibly braces again if I wanted to get rid of the gap. It is not easy, and I don't think it is worth it. I like my smile- it doesn't look plastic.
Lauren Huttton a famous model from the 70's had a gap. I guess the old saying is true. eventually stuff comes back in style
All you have to do to see fashions regularly cycling is to work at a clothing retail store. Recently, everything from the 80's has been fashionable...
Honestly, I long to see what a truly new fashion would look like.
This comment goes out as a reply to Anti-Islam Pete. A gap tooth smile is still a smile. The only way a person looks "Hillbilly" or Ignorant is if they are! I have seen people with gaps in their teeth that I agree just don't look atttractive; at the same time I have seen gaps in teeth that add to a persons looks. It really depends on the person. I am just so happy that we don't live in a world of carbon copies. Dentures are all perfect, but I would rather have a gap in my teeth. Ignorant is how others reading this site might describe You!
No thank you! Anna Paquin aside, hugh gaps between the teeth are not attractive. Go see the dentist...hurry!
I don't agree with purposefully putting a gap in one's teeth to improve appearance. The first thing I notice is a person's smile and if there's an unusually large natural gap then I focus on the gap but realistically, I should be focusing on their personality and not their smile. I've never had braces and when I asked my dentist's opinion about braces he said I didn't need them, they were straight enough. I've been told I have a nice smile but I'm still self-conscious about it and I'm also self-conscious about food stuck in my teeth when I smile.
People, it's my own hang-ups that I need to get over and I don't particularly think that a deliberate gap in one's teeth makes them attractive.
I'm 55 now. I had a big gap between my two front teeth when I was young but I didn't care about it but it wasn't fashionable then. I got braces because my teeth needed to be straightend in order to prevent damage and I wasn't even asked about keeping the gap, it was just understood that it would be gone and so now it is. I guess I prefer to not have it. I'd rather be known for something other than havind a space between my teeth.
I hope that in the near future, beautiful comes back into vogue instead of the current regular and ugly.
Ohh puleese, the English are notorios for their bad , misalleigned teeth. That's a "beauty" statement??