It has emerged that Kanye West has reportedly had ‘titanium fixed prosthodontics’ installed – but what does the dental profession think?
This week, news broke that the US rapper had opted for a new metallic look, prompting reactions from both the dental world and the public.
The procedure was carried out by dentist Dr Thomas Connelly. Writing on his Instagram, he said: ‘We have a custom Proclaim device that was co-fabricated with access areas for flushing interproximal.
‘The fixed prosthesis was fabricated to mimic his exact occlusion and envelope of function. His phonetics are perfect. The prosthesis respects all aspects of dental technology including function and cleans-ability. More photos to follow. No teeth were removed.’
We spoke to dental professionals to see what their thoughts were on the aesthetic treatment.
Nilesh Parmar – dentist
Looking at the news, it appears that Kanye West has had an invasive dental treatment carried out. When I first saw the pictures, I had assumed he had something known as a grill made – this is a ‘cosmetic device’, which can have precious metal or diamonds placed upon it. These are not bonded to the teeth, they simply sit on top of them.
However, on closer examination and after seeing the dentist Dr Thomas Connelly showcasing what he had made, it appears that all of the teeth have been prepped to receive various precious metal bridges.
Obviously, we do not know the status of the teeth prior. This movement of celebrities having irreversible dental treatment carried out for purely cosmetic reasons is somewhat concerning. The risks of tooth decay, difficulty cleaning and, ultimately, loss of the teeth is a very real one.
The added worry is that the youth of today will think that having invasive procedures like this is something that is desirable when, in fact, it is somewhat foolish.
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Manrina Rhode – dentist
The article in the Daily Mail caused quite a buzz amongst the dental community, with even my non-dental friends sending me a link to the article. I guess this is what Kanye hoped to achieve – a buzz. Mission accomplished!
The article stated that he had his teeth removed, but after a closer look at his dentist Dr Connelly’s Instagram page, it seems he had all his teeth prepped for crowns that join together. I also ‘kind of’ understand Kanye wanting to look like a James Bond villain, but is cutting all your teeth down to achieve the look going too far? I think so.
How is this different from a patient coming to me for a smile makeover you might ask? The difference is I will remove minimal amounts of tooth tissue to achieve my results. If a patient asked for me to crown all their healthy teeth, it’s not a treatment I would be prepared to do. I have been asked by patients before who wanted a ‘perfect’ smile on the front and back of their teeth to crown rather than veneer, but I refuse and explain we will veneer for the best, most safe result.
I spoke to one of my friends and technicians, Kash from Bremadent, about how we would have gone about creating titanium grillz, and we decided the best option would be no prep or minimal prep labially and no prep lingually/palatally. So, when the patient tires from them, the teeth can be restored with minimally invasive porcelain.
Let’s see what Kanye does with his teeth next…
Kash Qureshi – dental technician
Manrina and I were having a discussion about how we would discuss this case if it was presented to us. From instantly looking at the images, you do not want this to be a permanent restoration, you want it to be a temporary one – even if it’s cemented, it can be cemented temporarily.
So, if I was to prep anything, I would do minimal prep labially, but I would do more prep on the palatal and lingual aspects because those are not seen in the mouth. That would allow us to reconstruct a grill of this nature.
Looking at the way the grill has been made, it’s been made with an increase of the occlusal vertical dimension (OVD) which is okay for someone like Kanye who has had mouth reconstruction, but not every patient is going to be able to tolerate that. It’s going to breed a lot of TMJ problems in the future, as well as issues with eating and chewing – all of these things just for vanity.
Crucial considerations
In general terms, I think this is how anyone should approach this procedure. I even made my own set of grillz just to prove to myself that I could do it. It was a very strange feeling when I first put them over my teeth – it felt like something was hugging over the top of it. You couldn’t really chew or talk.
Knowing that Kanye’s primary income comes from his vocals, it may be a bit difficult for him to talk, sing and rap because the tongue will be hitting the gold grill even though there is just a little bit being shown palatally, and this will change his voice.
There was a famous opera singer who used to wear a full upper denture, Pavarotti. He used to sing, but the air would travel into his denture which caused it to rattle. This impacted his voice and speech, so he ended up getting implant dentures which held in place when he sang. There are always these sort of things to take into consideration, but if I was to approach something like that, I think that would be the best way.
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