Posted on July 05 2017
by editingbeauty

Once again, this week’s Instagram trend was welcomed with furrowed brows during the team’s weekly Editorial meeting. How tooth gems even became a thing, we don’t know, but when celebs like Katy Perry and Hailey Baldwin flashed their pearly whites that came accompanied with little sparkling gems, suddenly everyone had to get themselves their very own tooth accessory.

getting MET ready ?? by @renellaice

A post shared by Hailey Baldwin (@haileybaldwin) on

According to PopSugar, the trend isn’t anything new at all. In fact, putting semiprecious stones on teeth go way back to the times of the ancient Mayans, when crystals were used to adorned teeth, in a manner not unlike our own contemporary version. Grills then came into the picture, and folks got them fixed in to exude a scuffy, back-street vibe. The tooth gems are a more subtle version of the metal grills, for folks that prefer a less flashy style.

Affixing gems on your teeth isn’t an easy affair. To start off, a dentist (or a “Tooth Gem Specialist”) is required for you to install them gems onto your teeth. Professional and industry-level equipment is needed, because the adhesive used is going to last you for six months to a year before touch-ups are required. This is nothing like applying falsies — the adhesive needs to be professionally put on to seal off any bacteria from entering that particular spot where your gem will be, and your dentist will have to triple check if the metal accessory is put on properly. That means the gem isn’t supposed to hinder any of your daily activities, such as brushing of teeth and eating.

A post shared by Carmen? (@carmen.dee) on

Once that’s settled, you have to decide on the type of gem that’s going to be displayed. You have to pick one that does not turn rusty at all, which means… a pretty penny will have to be spent on real gold, silver, diamond or crystal. And you’ll have to get yet another professional to have your piece of metal cut to your desired form — such as Katy Perry’s Nike tooth gem.

And before you even commit to a six month tooth accessory, you’ll have to first think about how good the gems are going to look on yourself. As superficial as this sounds, tooth gems are likely to only look flattering when your pearly whites are, well, white. Anything less than white (ahem, yellow), will result in the tooth gem looking very much like a piece of sweet-and-sour pork that got stuck between the nooks of your teeth.

It’s very much like a three-step checklist. If you passed them all, hurray! You’re now ready for your very own tooth gem. But if you’re still debating, there’s still a way “try” out the trend and have it up on IG, no less. Simply Photoshop a little piece of metal onto your tooth, and don’t forget the add the sparkle. From afar, no one will ever be the wiser.

Header Image: @toothkandy IG


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