日本潮女最近流行整“虎牙”

Perfect teeth - white, straight and evenly aligned - may be the ideal in America, but that aesthetic is not for everyone. Japanese women are going gaga for a crowded, crooked-toothed smile with accentuated canine teeth, known as the 'yaeba' look.

Popular at dentists in Tokyo, a cosmetic procedure to create the yaeba effect involves attaching non-permanent adhesive mini-fangs to canine teeth.

Yaeba, meaning 'double tooth,' is a sought-after treatment at Dental Salon Plaisir in Tokyo’s upmarket Ginza neighbourhood, where, perhaps in response to Twilight fans, Dr Kashiyama has been 'pushing' the $390 alteration, according to InventorSp.

Far from the usual blood-lusting connotations of vampires, the sharp-canined look is an attempt at making a smile more child-like, replicating the odd alignment of smiles that are affected by delayed baby teeth.

The look - frothed about on blogs, Facebook fan pages and on Japanese TV - is seen as adding a well-calculated dash of imperfection to a pretty face, adding to a woman's desirability. Essentially, says the New York Times, the look is about a desire to appear younger.

Pace University's Dr Emilie Zaslow, assistant professor of communication studies, told the newspaper: 'The naturally occurring yaeba is because of delayed baby teeth, or a mouth that’s too small. 'It’s this kind of emphasis on youth and the sexualization of young girls.'

The trend follows the Western fondness of late for the gap-toothed smile - also a 'young' dental look.

Made popular by the likes of models Lara Stone, Georgia Jagger and Jessica Hart, the Madonna-style grin became a requested look at New York salons last year.

Dr Marc Lowenberg, a cosmetic dentist in Manhattan, told the New York Times in 2010: 'The white standard got too white. The perfection standard got too perfect.'

Vincent Devaud, a ceramist from Pasadena in California, added: 'What makes a person desirable and attractive? It's not the symmetry; it's perfect imperfections.'

Kirsten Dunst would surely agree. The actress told Elle UK that is very fond of her 'snaggleteeth.'

'I love my snaggle fangs,' she said. 'They give me character and character is sexy.'潔白、整齊、排列均勻的牙齒也許在美國堪稱完美，但這種審美標準並不適合於所有人。日本女性最近熱衷於“八重齒”，也就是那種看上去擠得東倒西歪、還有突出虎牙的齒相。

打造“八重齒”效果的整容項目目前在東京的牙科診所裏很流行，其中包括在自己的虎牙位置黏上一些非永久性小尖牙。

根據InventorSpot網站報道，八重齒”意思是“復齒”，這一整容項目在東京繁華的銀座附近的“喜悅牙科沙龍”備受歡迎。在那裏，也許是爲了迎合《暮光之城》的粉絲，柏山醫生一直在推銷價值390美元的這一牙齒整容項目。

與傳統的吸血鬼嗜血形象不同，這種虎牙笑臉可以使人的笑容看起來更帶孩子氣，重現了年幼時期乳牙未脫落時的“歪嘴笑”。

在日本，博客、Facebook粉絲頁面，以及電視上到處可見這樣的虎牙笑臉。大家普遍認爲，在一張可愛的臉孔上加上一點點恰到好處的瑕疵，會增添女性的魅力。《紐約時報》報道說，這在本質上體現了女性顯年輕的願望。

美國佩斯大學的傳播學助理教授艾米麗•薩斯洛博士告訴該報：“天然的‘八重齒’是因爲乳牙延遲脫落或者嘴巴太小。而虎牙凸現了少女的朝氣和女性特徵。”

西方最近也流行一種“大牙縫”笑臉的時尚，也是一種顯“年輕”的齒相。

勞拉•斯通、喬治亞•賈格爾、傑西卡•哈特等明星帶動了這股整牙風，這種“麥當娜式的”露齒而笑去年成爲紐約不少沙龍裏客戶的要求。

紐約曼哈頓的一名整形牙醫馬克•洛溫伯格在2010年告訴《紐約時報》：“白色標準太白，完美標準太完美。”

美國加州帕薩迪納市的陶藝家文森特• 德沃補充說：“是什麼讓一個人有魅力，吸引人？並不是長相勻稱，而是完美中的瑕疵。”

克里斯汀•鄧斯特當然同意這一觀點。這位女星告訴英國Elle雜誌，她很喜歡自己的“暴牙”。

她說：“我喜歡我的暴牙，它們讓我很有個性，有個性就是性感。”