This Is Trending? Double Teeth

Warning: for those of you who’ve suffered through years of braces, retainers and mouth guards, this will read like a kick in the teeth. Trending in Japan: “yaeba” or “double teeth,” whereby dentists add extra permanent or semi-permanent caps on top of existing teeth for a snaggle-tooth effect. Thought to make women appear more girlish and thus more attractive, double teeth procedures are in demand. We have to admit that this one has us scratching our heads. Not because we’re condoning the trend-chasers or because we think that naturally occurring double teeth are anything less than cool – we’re firmly situated in the perfect-because-it’s-imperfect camp – but rather because we can’t quite figure out how it makes us feel. On one hand, it is nice to see an other-than-Barbie beauty ideal spark such a want wave. On the other, it’s still an appearance altercation brought on by someone else’s idea of what’s beautiful. Is the quest for yaeba really any different than that of 36/24/36 body geometry?