It’s no secret that Hollywood has been a breeding ground for unrealistic standards of beauty and appearance — it’s been that way for as long as anyone can remember. Done-up hair, airbrushed skin, button noses, perfect clothes, perfect bodies and perfect … teeth?
If you pay attention, you’ll notice that in recent times, most of your favorite celebrities — whether they’re influencers, A-list actors or even K-Pop idols — have “perfect” teeth. Bright white, almost blinding and completely straight with not a single crooked tooth in sight. So perfect, in fact, that they seem almost uncanny. In most, if not all cases, these are a result of a cosmetic dental procedure to install “dental veneers.” So, what exactly are they?
saw the tweet about his veneers and had to see for myself….. i feel sick to my stomach i do. What are we doing to our beautiful kings pic.twitter.com/zktKg1lHFS
— Grace (@gracecamille_) December 10, 2023
What Are Veneers?
According to WebMD, veneers are wafer-thin, custom-made shells of tooth-colored materials designed to cover the front surface of teeth to change your appearance. These shells are bonded to the front of the teeth, changing their color, shape, size or length. This generally involves reshaping the tooth and then creating an enamel crown to fit over it.
In theory, it feels like just another medical procedure. But when you really look into it — the reasoning behind getting it, the process itself and most importantly, the end results — you realize that there’s just something … off about the people that do have them. Lately, it seems as though every day a new celebrity or influencer opens their mouth to reveal an artificial smile.
Veneers scare me cause like the teeth beneath the porcelain is not getting brushed?? Think about the cavities and decay your dentist will experience when y’all go to change them out every 5-15 years. Eventually y’all won’t have any teeth to attach the porcelain to omg
— Sketel 🇯🇲 (@rieslingbeauty) March 8, 2024
The Uncanny Valley Effect
There’s something about veneers themselves and the people who have them done that stands out and not necessarily in a good way. You can’t help but notice that someone seems to have blindingly white, perfectly aligned teeth; they have the best smile with not one out-of-shape tooth in sight. It can all feel a little less … natural. Or, maybe even less human.
When we observe something that seems human on the surface but not enough, the uneasiness and discomfort we experience is called the “Uncanny Valley” effect. And people seem to be associating people with veneers to this effect.
we need to end the veneer virus… the cosmetic dentaldemic… so many beautiful unique teeth lost to the most scary lifeless uncanny valley looking teeth
— v (@desertheartss) December 22, 2023
Do Teeth Give Us Character?
Now the question becomes why exactly we associate these veneers to that discomfort and uneasiness we experience. What about teeth make us human?
Teeth aren’t just functional tools for chewing food; they’re also integral to our identity and expression. Natural teeth can come in various shapes, sizes and alignments, each telling a unique story about an individual’s life and experiences. Whether it’s a slightly crooked incisor, a gap between the front teeth or a distinctive shape, what these imperfections ultimately do is contribute to our overall appearance and personality.
When we see someone with perfectly uniform, unnaturally white veneers, it’s as if a part of their humanity has been smoothed away, replaced by a manufactured ideal. It’s basically like seeing a face without any lines or wrinkles; it lacks the depth and character that makes us relatable and authentic as human beings.
uncanny valley capitalism beuty standards are terrifying to me. expensive asf veneers that look scary, brazilian butt lifts causing death and disproportionate bodies, injectable fillers literally migrate from your face and dont break down properly and look terrifying
— plazy ☾*✲⋆. (@plazynoodles) December 1, 2020
So, while veneers might offer Hollywood and by proxy the rest of us a superficially flawless smile, they could contribute to stripping away the essence of what makes us human — our quirks, imperfections and uniqueness.
Would you ever get veneers? Let us know @VALLEYmag on X!
