Goodlettsville Dental Services

Tooth painting

Tooth painting is an ancient custom of many countries in the Far East, such as Japan, southern China, Vietnam and Malaysia. Each region has its distinct traditions and methods.

In Vietnam, tooth painting is (or was) practiced by the majority ethnic group (Kinh) as well as minority peoples. The Si La men paint their teeth red and the women paint theirs black. This practice has slowly declined with each new generation.

The practice of whitening teeth has also become popular in Western culture as a form of aesthetic enhancement.

In 17th-century Elizabethan England, women would paint their teeth colorfully, especially green or purple, in accordance with what some people of the period found beautiful

A woman from Tonkin with black-painted teeth (ca. 1905).