A tooth like a shark: unusual traditions of the peoples of the world

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Snow-white, perfectly straight, excellently shaped teeth surround us from all sides, slowly squeezing the ring: advertising of dentistry, just advertising of anything with smiling models, movies, where even the last beggar has dazzling veneers, TV shows, clips of singers …

To this we add relentless reminders of how important it is to brush your teeth, take care of your gums, and other instructions on maintaining maximum whiteness. But Marina Kolesnichenko, a dentist-therapist, chief physician of Beauty Line, responsibly declares: this was not always the case! And to this day, among some peoples there are completely different ideas about the beauty of teeth.

Japan: we paint our teeth according to the precepts of our ancestors

Ohaguro (literal translation - "black teeth") is not the name of a Japanese demon that causes tooth decay and pulpitis. This is the name of the ancient tradition of blackening teeth, and the blackness of the varnish was poetically compared with the boundless and eternal loyalty of a woman to her husband. At the same time, the Japanese quite sincerely considered the impeccable smoothness of the black varnish on the teeth to be indescribably beautiful, just as we now praise the whiteness of the enamel.

However, the application of varnish also had a practical side - it protected the teeth from external influences due to its density, strengthened the enamel, and also increased the iron content in the body. Here it is about the composition of the varnish: a mixture of sumach ink nuts was added to a dark brown solution of iron in acetic acid (obtained from rusty rods soaked in sake and water). The aroma was still the same, but at the same time, in addition to iron, the varnish was rich in tannins, which is also useful.

This varnish had to be applied daily (as now - every day to brush your teeth with paste). However, over time, ohaguro began to become a thing of the past - since 1870, noble families and the imperial family were legally prohibited from blackening their teeth. This is how, gradually, from the custom of the nobility, ohaguro moved into the category of folk traditions, and now it is done only by actors and geisha.

Mother Russia: we hide caries under powder

In fact, not only the Japanese were fond of blackening their teeth: Indians, Nigerians, Moroccans, the peoples of South America, and the tribes of Northern Thailand were noted in this field.

Photo: Globallookpress.com

And also our ancestors! Since the time of Alexei Mikhailovich, nicknamed Silent (and this is the 17th century), noble and not so women covered their teeth with a special composition, similar to powder.

This custom persisted until the beginning of the 19th century, so that Natasha Rostova could well sparkle at the balls not with a white-toothed smile, but a very "Japanese" one.

Why was this done? The answers lie, sadly, in our climate. According to one version, due to the lack of vitamins and calcium, which arose due to the harsh, cold weather, teeth deteriorated rapidly, and women, in order to equalize healthy teeth with carious ones … spoiled healthy teeth with mercury whitewash! Thus, all teeth were decayed evenly. The second version is even sadder: sugar in Russia was so expensive that teeth blackened from its abuse were automatically equated with signs of wealth. So women of fashion had to spoil their teeth on their own.

American entertainers: teeth and heads in the style of the ancient Maya

The ancient Maya were categorically opposed to natural beauty - for example, they deformed babies' skulls to achieve an elongated shape. "This is so much more beautiful!" - believed the Maya, to the horror of the archaeologists who unearthed these marvelous devices - pads, cradles and crushers for the heads of babies.

Photo: Globallookpress.com

Of course, teeth also did not escape the attention of the ancient Maya. They approached this process thoroughly: they drilled holes in the teeth, and they inserted precious stones. This was most often done to boys over 15 years old. The women were filing their teeth. True, over time, the fair sex decided to switch to inlays and left men far behind. Most often, the front upper teeth were drilled, and it looked not at all like modern Skies or Twinkles, but rather frightening. The stones inserted into the teeth looked more like traces of some infectious disease, and caries in those conditions was also right there.

With filing, it was not easier - throughout his life a self-respecting Mayan mod had to file his teeth in order to maintain their not the most natural shape. There were a great many types of sawdust, for example, rectangles could be cut out of teeth by removing the side parts. The view is amazing even now.

The Mentawai tribe of Indonesia: sawing and drilling

Mentawai or Mentawai living in the Mentawai archipelago, which belongs to Indonesia, are the ideological heirs of the ancient Maya in terms of ideas about dental beauty. True, only women suffer from this - according to the beliefs of the mentawai, only sharp shark teeth make a girl's smile truly beautiful!

And this is not a joke - girls really grind their teeth with stones (without anesthesia!), So that each of them takes on a characteristic shark shape.

Photo: Globallookpress.com

But why do girls endure such hellish pain? Unfortunately, history has not preserved the reasons why such a tradition appeared. The Mentawai are not an aggressive people, they believe that all living things are endowed with a soul - from grass blades to animals, they eat mainly plant foods, not counting the meat of turtles. Therefore, it is still unclear why this tribe developed the custom of turning the smiles of women into a menacing grin, which capitalism from the Soviet caricature would envy.

No teeth - no problem

But human fantasy about teeth does not stop there either. For example: while there are teeth, they can hurt, collapse, turn black, and a woman can bite with them, which is in no way permissible. That is why the inhabitants of the Solomon Islands knock out the upper incisors of women immediately after the wedding. This is so beautiful in every way!

Residents of Angola act in a similar way: she knocked out her front teeth - and immediately became prettier! Moreover, this is also done on the wedding day, so that the girl will never forget this event, undoubtedly the happiest in her life.

China: green teeth the color of tea

Mao Zedong, for example, never brushed his teeth, and up to half a billion Chinese still follow his example. And why, in fact, crawl over the teeth with some kind of brush, with an incomprehensible chemical paste, if there is green tea? We take a sprig, take green tea, turn it into gruel - and go! This gives the teeth a unique dark green color. There is nothing to say about the scent from the mouth - by old age you can shoot down birds on the way up with one exhale. But naturally, without synthetic dyes, and there is enough fluoride in Chinese water, which is thus purified for consumption.