I know it may sound strange, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see teeth on TV, in the movies or on the football field. The vast majority of dentures seen among celebrities are ‘white, shiny and perfectly aligned’. And they’re fake.

As the social obsession with the perfect smile grows worldwide, reality is mixing with fiction.

A change in health, but above all a cultural change. The democratization of dental care has meant that oral health in the country has improved very rapidly. In fact, this has happened in all developed countries, although Spain is generally considered one of the most improved countries in Europe. This may explain why the dentures seen in the media are “better” than they were 30 or 40 years ago. But they are not.

With a few exceptions (which is why they tend to attract attention) we usually see coatings, veneers or veneers. Artificial products that cheat and set completely unattainable standards of whiteness and alignment.

When teeth are so perfect. Although it is something that is beginning to reach consultations in Spain, we cannot say that it is new. We know that pumice stone and vinegar were already mixed in ancient Egypt to whiten (or lighten) teeth. But in the last century, our technical capacity has managed to make “healing” in dentistry a reality. In a tremendous reality.

As dentist Samuel Rodríguez López explained in El Independiente, “veneers have been around in the United States since Hollywood existed. At first they were ceramic, they were placed on the teeth and people put them on and took them off.” Mariano Abruzzesi, a cosmetic dentist at the SHA Wellness Clinic, confirmed in El País that in fact “most Hollywood actors today have veneers or crowns.”

This has been a great way to introduce (and popularize) completely unrealistic expectations about teeth.

And that has consequences. “What do they want from us in the meeting? [dientes cada vez más blancos] “This is the result of what people perceive as aspirational on television, in series or in football matches,” said María Rosa Fernández, orthodontic dentist and professor of orthodontics at the University of Alfonso X.

We are no longer talking about dental dysmorphia, we are talking about unrealistic beauty standards that drive the demand for surgeries and aesthetic treatments, like some filters on social networks. We may think that it is “just fashion”, but we cannot dissociate ourselves from the fact that social media has a devastating effect on young people’s relationship with their bodies (and their smiles).

Perverse incentives. Santiago Seoane, a dentist at the University of Santiago School of Medicine, denounced more than a decade ago: “Many private chains are in charge of selling a false image of reality in order to make a profit. They whiten the teeth or put porcelain on veneers, they do that too, they also put prostheses instead of trying to save the tooth.

You are right: there is still a huge market that continues to expand. In 2024, 11.64 billion dental implants and prosthetics alone are expected to be transported, and if growth forecasts of 11 percent are met, this figure is expected to reach 34 million in less than a decade. According to the Spanish Federation of Health Technologies, the aesthetic segment has been the fastest growing.

To get straight to the point: the demand for cosmetic dental treatments has doubled in the last five years. And this data is important because, although often overlooked, traditional orthodontics is experiencing a very significant structural decline (down 8% in the last year alone).

What can we expect? None of this is specific to dentistry: ‘The reality of cosmetic surgery in Spain’‘ From 2023 related to The Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (SECPRE) has seen its aesthetic interventions increase by 215% in eight years. In fact, this is something that is happening all over the world. In some ways, this is the new normal, and we still don’t quite know what to do with it.

Image | Nick Fewings

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