A recent post one of the blogs I read regularly inspired this post today. As pointed out in the post you could not be blamed for thinking that there are no Dentists in Japan, however I can assure you they are alive and well.
I have spent countless hours in the Dental chair over the last year having amalgam fillings replaced with white fillings and more recently started the long haul of Orthodontic Braces.
Unfortunately you see a lot of people who believe that a $2000 handbag or a $4000 SLR Camera is apparently more important than good looking teeth, or even worse, actually having a full set of teeth.
Here are a couple of typical Female Japanese smiles…
To be fair I will say that 95% of the female teeth that I have seen are well cleaned and generally a good shade of white just not aligned as you would hope, however the guys in Japan are a very different story.
The following picture is very representative of many a Japanese guys smiles, and a drinking friend of mine has a smile very similar to this next photo just not as many teeth…..
While I don’t know the reasons for the apparent lack of Dental care , and I am sure there are many, what I do know is up until the Meji Period what were considered beautiful teeth would make make you run for cover in modern times.
This picture depicts what was considered beautiful up until the Meji period.. and being a Geisha you really struck Gold.. Black Gold…
Ohaguro - お歯黒: is the fashion of dying one’s teeth black. For more information head over to the Ohaguro page on Wikipedia.
This post is tagged Bad Smiles, Japanese Dentists, Ohaguro, お歯黒
6 Comments
It’s one thing having a crooked set of fangs, it’s another exercising poor hygienic practices and rarely brushing them, no excuses for that. I’d imagine the breathe would have to suffer aswell.
Dying one teeth’s black? Nice. But, and I hate to throw the good ol’ US of A under the bridge here, but there are quite a few hip hop stars who are doing the next worse thing: painting them gold.
Vomit vomit vomit.
How do I do these things? “Dying one teeth’s black”? I should be fired from the blog-o-sphere and whacked over the head with my keyboard.
Yes, their teeth may be clean but please, they really need to get to an orthodontist and get some braces on their teeth and straighten them. Those crooked mangled snagletooth teeth look terrible.
@Tornadoes28.. Couldn’t agree more.. I see some of the most beautiful girls in the world in Japan.. and then they smile..
@Tokyo Cowgirl.. I couldn’t even imagine painting my teeth any color except white.. how will it look at 80 years of age.. yeah… about as classy as a Rat with a gold tooth..
It’s one thing having a crooked set of fangs, it’s another exercising poor hygienic practices and rarely brushing them, no excuses for that. I’d imagine the breathe would have to suffer aswell.
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