teeth as a fashion statement.

PODCAST
for extra content every Wednesday 😈

SOURCES

Books:
The Clean Body by Peter Ward
Sugar by James Walvin
Beauty Imagined: A History of the Global Beauty Industry by Geoffrey Jones
Foul Bodies: Cleanliness in Early America by Kathleen M. Brown
Selling Beauty by Morag Martin
Teeth by Mary Otto

Journal Articles:
The Washington Post (1877-1922); Feb 14, 1897; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post pg. 28

News Articles:

[itsbasicboi]

OMG as someone that doesn’t have perfectly aligned teeth, I hate how aesthetics make people like me seem that our teeth aren’t healthy. My dentist always tells me that alignment does not necessarily dictate that your teeth aren’t healthy.

[missmyk]

I work at a dental office and it's absolutely ridiculous how the American healthcare system downplays the importance of oral health when it is *so* crucial to overall health. Especially kids! Do not neglect your kid's oral health because "it's just baby teeth", those teeth could stay in there into high school and damage in the baby teeth can affect the new permanent teeth.

[anangookwewolf]

People of today scoff at practices of the past. I.e. Queen Elizabeth and lead based makeup but totally forget that there are those around us who use gorilla glue as tooth gem adhesives 😵

[rinapop]

As a European I've noticed that Americans have a huge obsession with teeth and are often very degrading to those who live in countries where its not seen as so important

[teraphIl]

I was traumatized by a documentary I saw on TV as a kid about people who had undergone cheap teeth whitening procedures and could now only ingest liquid food or else their teeth would fall out. It made me want to take real good care of mine.

[ievagaa]

Ridiculously white teeth in movies always make me cringe, especially when it’s a period piece or veneers on those who in reality just couldn’t have them

[DanYoChee]

Hello I am a dentist and can I just say this video was EXTREMELY well researched and you make great points that many dentists would overlook. I'm always impressed with your work but this one really blew me away

[demi.]

i have naturally more yellow teeth and although ive never had anyone point them out or make fun of them its one of the things that im the most insecure about. its so weird how whiteness is praised on teeth even if they go through damaging processes to get that colour. like why is destroying our teeths shape and putting new ones in so praised? its damaging too?? its just so confusing how one damaging factor (eg. decay) can be ridiculed but people that are actively choosing to have a similar thing done (shaving teeth down) to get a “hollywood smile” are the beauty standard

[conho]

In Asia, many cultures like Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan historically viewed dyed blackened teeth as beautiful. In Vietnam, historically, white teeth were called dog teeth, and was regarded as barbaric. So teeth as a beauty standard isn't completely universal.

[tiffanyferg]

Abbbbsolutely here for any and all discussions of teeth!! 💛 this was fascinating, thank you Mina!

[gluteusuterus]

Could you please do a video on body hair trends. It's interesting that something as natural as hair that grows on your body is viewed as "manly" or "unladylike"

[desanipt]

Well, truth is, even most countries that have, otherwise, roubust universal healthcare coverage tend to set oral health apart and don't ensure its coverage the way they do with other medical areas.
It does depend on the country, but there's definitely a trend, worldwide, of treating oral health financing as a thing aside from healthcare in general (which I never understood why).

[AmelieMews]

Dentists often tell you that you NEED veneers ... when you really don't, but they want money. 💰💸🤑
They put me through bad orthodontic treatment, where they sanded my teeth without telling me when I was under age. It was shocking.
So now I must have
veneers for life.

[MADEbySOUL]

After I had my braces taken off, my Orthodontist wanted to shave them down so I had perfect straight teeth. It was a miracle I spoke up to this professional since I had terrible self esteem and shyness. At the time there were numerous toothpaste commercials about teeth enamel eroding. So I questioned why this professional wanted to take away something I had a good amount of.

[TaraMooknee]

Mina, I wasn't prepared for the "Pooja what is this behavior?" edit 😂

[random]

The popular slang term "no cap" also comes from gold teeth covers. Saying that means they're real, i.e. not a tooth cap, and now people use that in any context to mean that they're for real and not joking/lying.

[nandarambles]

Don’t know how many times I have gone to the dentist for a general clean up and they keep trying to force me to pay thousands of dollars to “whiten” my teeth “because I’m too pretty “ for them not to be pearly white 🤦🏻‍♀️they really trying to mess up with people confidence to make money . Great video! Always looking forward to them :)

[Soapynah]

A friend of mine got yellow teeth after Tetracykline treatment and people would tease her about it even though 1. Her teeth were healthy 2. The discoloration was due to medication. The value we place on beauty vs. health is so shitty ugh

[deusvenenare]

As someone who grew up dirt poor and now has really wonky teeth as an adult because of it, that part about not wanting to smile really hit. 😭

[jaehaywardkent]

as a brit i am proud to say i have tea stained teeth and couldn’t care less for white teeth. so long as i have healthy teeth i don’t care that they aren’t BLINDINGLY white.