Dental Aesthetics Within The Asian Culture- Beonnia Henry

America is so bent on the thought that straight, white teeth defines perfect beautiful teeth. In America we are obsessed with having straight, pearly white teeth. But how would you feel if you were told your teeth were those of an untamable, savage animal, or a demon? The qualities that make you feel your teeth appear beautiful in the American culture are the same features that would have made you appear evil and wild in various parts of Asia. In the Asian Culture they would blacken their teeth for various reasons. Some countries did it because they believed it was the cause of ones sex appeal, other countries did it as a way to represent the change of a woman from childhood to adulthood making it known that they were ready for marriage, and some Asian Countries blackened their teeth because they believed that the natural teeth resembled those of an animal. It made them wild, evil and demon like. One thing that remained constant between each country was that natural teeth were not desirable to them. They blackened their teeth in many ways using natural products. It is the complete opposite belief of our modern day society however its what they did and what some still continue to do.