Bedazzled! Diamonds add glitter to your smile - Times of India
Sumitra Deb Roy | TNN

Mumbai : Suneel Merchant’s preparation for his two-year business course in the US seemed incomplete without a sparkling start. The Bandra resident wanted to raise his cool quotient and make a style statement with the college crowd abroad by putting a diamond on his front tooth.

Merchant (22), who is leaving the city next week, said, “I wanted to stand out in the crowd and what could have been better than a dazzling smile?’’ Like Merchant, medical student Nisha Amana, too, always dreamt of a dental jewellery that could add an extra glimmer to her pearlies. Two months ago, she landed up at a clinic offering tooth jewellery in Vile Parle, and going through the fares on offer, she wanted one for herself. “I always read about it or admired it on the internet,’’ she said. “The rarity of the trend made me go for one. I have not seen many people in Mumbai wearing dental jewellery,’’ said Amana, who now sports a purple crystal flower on her upper anterior tooth.

The rage of encrusting one’s teeth with diamonds and crystals has made a comeback in the city, with teenagers making a beeline for a chance to bedazzle with that flashing smile. The trend, a city dentist said, has come back after certain brands started making tooth jewellery for price, which pinches the pocket a tad less.

Vile Parle-based cosmetic dentist and surgeon Dr Priya Karkhanis has done about eight such jewel makeovers in the past three months. "Fitting tooth jewellery is a non-invasive procedure and does not involve any drilling. It takes no more than 20 minutes," she said. "It is becoming a rage with teenagers. They come in every shape and different symbols."

The oral fashion statement, dentists say, does not damage tooth tissue and is practically free of sideeffects. "It is a painless procedure, in which the dentist fixes the ornament that comes with an adhesive on the labial surface of the upper anterior tooth," said Dr Varun Malhotra of Praxis Clinic, Andheri (West). "Men, too, have a fetish for tooth jewellery as much as women."

Merchant could not agree more as two of his friends are all set to get gems fixed on their teeth as well. The procedure costs anything between Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000, he gathered after visiting several clinics. “These jewels do not hinder eating, drinking or brushing,’’ said Kimberly Mathias, an aspiring model.

Also, what makes the shiny little gems even more endearing is that it can be easily removed, without causing any damage to the tooth structure. "People can keep changing the ornament when they want," said periodontal surgeon Dr Akash Akinwar. Akinwar, however, said there was not much demand for real diamonds yet. "Also, as dentists, we do not recommend real stones as the user might swallow them while eating," Akinwar said. "For now, most have settled for crystal."