CATEGORY 130 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST REALITY BITES Jade Richardson Beautiful ugly ~ the strange and chilly history of the smile industry From the shiver in the smile of the skeleton, to the inevitable shudders in corridors at medical history museums, something spooky rattles in the closet of dentistry. Jade Richardson investigates. There’s a magic in teeth. It’s primal, it’s scary, it’s glamorous and universal. We know it in the returning dreams of losing our teeth, in the intrinsic spell of the fang, that old dental voodoo of the ‘ring of con dence’, and the rituals of warrior shaman wearing teeth, while children request blessings from a fairy who trades them for wishes and gold. ere’s a magic about teeth that brings up something ancient in us. From the spellbinding ash of the bombshell’s pearly whites, to the seductive terror in the curve of the Vampire’s incisor, there’s de nitely something about teeth. Something that can electrify a deep, living power within us – a power that dreams, imagines, desires and has, until very recently, instinctively dreaded the dentist. e roots of this could be, as evolutionists would o er, a primal hangover from days when our dads and kids were in real danger of being eaten alive by large toothy things, like dinosaurs and huge, hungry lions, sharks and bears. e power of teeth could also be, as psychologists would o er, a metaphoric live wire, which links deep-seated childhood neuroses and adolescent anxieties to the symbolic value of teeth as indicators of pain, power, status, separation, inclusion, sexuality and shame. Which are all factors in the increasing desire, all over the world, for bright, shiny, even teeth, no matter the cost or pain involved. ere is also something kooky and erotic linked to teeth. e glitter of the beloved’s smile is provided by teeth, which are the gateway also to the sensual pleasures of taste, intoxication, debauchery and love. e only exposed part of the skeleton, our teeth are also a postcard from our inevitable graves. “ e global cosmetic dentistry market size was valued at USD 29.6 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.0% from 2022 to 2030,” writes Grand View Research. e market is surging, say analysts, due to increased disposable income, modernisation of very large populations in the ‘developing’ world, and radical leaps in technology. But as the advertising shows (in increasing cases where beautifying teeth verges on the macabre and surreal), and our recurring dreams, and movie stars and scary villains all testify – there’s something more deep and primal and spooky that drives our fascination for teeth. Which may be why a British Museum once hosted an entire exhibition about teeth – it’s the only body part other than the eye and the brain to have attracted such revered attention. Londoners ocked to be spooked and amazed at the show, by which the Wellcome Museum possibly did the single greatest service to the dental industry in Britain, admitting its brief overview of dental history would make any visitor rejoice at living in the 21st Century. “Teeth” the exhibition, o ered visitors a chance to stroll down a memory lane
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