It’s a trend he believes is a consequence of increased use of social media and Zoom. “Staring at ourselves talking and smiling for hours on end is not really normal and has only been accelerated by working from home.”
But straight, white teeth are one thing. Oversized veneers that render you unrecognisable are quite another. What’s going on?
“The biggest mistake we see is that people tend to go to inexperienced dentists, and they end up with more of a one-size-fits-all approach of having big, bold, white teeth with no consideration of all the surrounding facial structures,” Verdian says.
It’s an interesting fact of our times that, despite the meteoric rise in cosmetic procedures and filtered imagery, we often conflate inauthenticity with maleficence.
The result can be reminiscent of piano keys.
“To guard against this, we add different features to each of the veneers, so they aren’t just one block of porcelain. We use gradient shading, so it is not all one colour.” he says. “We also add translucency to the edges of the teeth to give them a more natural appearance.”
The aesthetic to aspire to, then, is a kind of imperfect perfection. Like keeping a couple of soft lines left around the eyes though the forehead may have Botox. Without it, a person’s humanness, or relatability, collapses, leaving us suspicious.
“As audiences become savvier at detecting photoshopping and filters, there are often calls for greater authenticity: that people who show their true selves and flaws are celebrated as more ‘real’ than those who are filtered and nipped and tucked” says Dr Lauren Rosewarne. “Looking fake for example, in some circles, is associated with inauthenticity.”
It’s an interesting fact of our times that, despite the meteoric rise in cosmetic procedures and filtered imagery, we often conflate inauthenticity with maleficence.
Tilda Swinton (left) with An Seo Hyun in the film Okja.Credit:Netflix
When Tilda Swinton played the villainous heiress to a corrupt fortune in the 2017 movie, Okja, she wore oversized, false teeth and openly admitted to channelling Ivanka Trump, with, what Swinton described as the First Daughter’s “glossy blond hair, expensive orthodontics, and… Barbie-perfect modest pink dress.”
For generations, the villain in any story was identifiable via their physicality. Shakespeare’s Richard III had a hunched back and a withered arm. Captain Hook – well, it’s right there in his name. James Bond’s Dr. No had a scar so deep on his face it impacted his vision. These signifiers are ableist, but they’re also obvious. If a woman looked like Barbie, she was probably a love interest.
It appears the message in modern cinema is more subtle; and, in the end, probably more reflective of the surreptitious age we live in: that sometimes the shiniest of objects are filled with decay.
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The unlikely star of Netflix’s Don’t Look Up: false teeth
Source: Philippines Alive
