TATTOOTH: TOOTH TATTOO, A NEW RAGE IN BODY ART

International Journal of Advanced Biotechnology and Research ISSN 0976-2612, 

Vol 3, Issue 1, 2012, pp 498-501 http://www.bipublication.com 

ABSTRACT 

TATTOOTH: TOOTH TATTOO, A NEW RAGE IN BODY ART 

Kriti Garg 1* , Pawanjeet Singh Chawla 2 , Garima Singh 3 

1,2 Senior Lecturer,Rama Dental College Hospital and Research Center 

3 Senior Lecturer, Maharana Pratap College of Dental Science 

* Corresponding author: Email:drkritigarg@gmail.com 

Body art and tattoo have been a fad globally for many years now, but have you heard of the latest buzz in the 

fashion scene, called the tattootth? Yes one can now get tattoos on the teeth and their smile look cute, or get that 

naughty glint as flash a smile like a pirate. 

Key words:Teeth,Teeth Tattoo,Dental art,Buccal wall of teeth, 

[I]INTRODUCTION 

Bored of seeing your single color white teeth 

every day? Want to give new look to your 

teeth?? You could do some amazing stuff to 

your teeth. Go…..Get them tattooed now. 

Apparently skin is not only place that can be 

decorated with a tattoo. You can decorate your 

tooth with amazing tattoos. Tooth tattoos and 

tooth jewels have become one of the hottest 

fashion trends, and a very popular new trend in 

cosmetic dentistry. Tooth tattoos are a new trend 

in body art in which custom, hand painted 

artwork is placed onto one’s tooth. 1 Tooth 

tattoos are a new rage in body art. Custom handpainted 

artwork is placed onto one’s tooth. 

Typically tooth tattoos are applied to a 

replacement crown before it is inserted into 

one’s mouth, although the process is also 

2, 3 

possible with an intentionally removed tooth. 

[II]HISTORY 

The ancient inhabitants of Easter Island believed 

tattooing their skin made it sacred and allowed 

them to speak directly to the Gods. Their tattoos 

included facial markings of bold lines and dots 

from one side of their foreheads to the other. 2 

The concept of decorating or enhancing your 

teeth is actually quite ancient. In both China and 

Japan, women at one point stained their teeth 

black as part of their beauty regimens and in 

many cultures teeth may be bordered in gold or 

replaced as a status symbol; gold teeth are 

especially common in Latin America and the 

Caucasus. 1 

Dental tattoos are not new: it started in the West 

about 8-10yeras ago when hippo singers and 

rappers started sporting them in their music 

videos and youngsters stared aping them. 4,5,6 

[III]DENTAL TATTOO 

Dental tattoos are custom designs which are 

added to dental crowns before the crowns are 

sealed and set in the mouth. This term is also 

used for temporary decals and stains used to 

decorate the teeth. Dental tattoos can potentially 

be applied to any tooth, and they run a wide 

gamut of styles, colors and designs. 4 The 14-35 

years age group usually goes in for dental tattoo

treatment. 4,7,8 According to use dental tattoos are 

of two following types: 4 

1) Temporary tattoos are designs are in the 

form of templates that are stuck on the teeth. 

Various kinds of designs are available. 

Sticking a temporary tattoo takes just 15-20 

minutes. 

2) Permanent tattoos are drilled on the teeth. 

Once done you cannot get them removed. 

Inscribing permanent tattoos can take long 

perhaps hour depending on the design 

chosen by. 

[IV]INVOLVED TEETH 

Normally this artwork is created on the back 

teeth, the molars or bicuspids, upper canines and 

upper lateral incisiors. 2,4 . Most people prefer 

having it on the cheek and lip side of the tooth 

(labial & buccal),some on the tongue side 

(lingual). 2,1,4 Most considered these as some 

what a white collar tattoo, they are seen only 

when the person that has one wants to share 

what they have, by pulling their cheek out so it 

could be seen. 9 

[V]PROCEDURE TO MAKE DENTAL 

TATTOOS 

Dental tattoos are usually applied by the dental 

lab which makes the crowns. 10 After a dentist 

takes a mold and confirms that it is correctly 

sized for the tooth, he or she spends it to a lab to 

be manufactured into a crown (figure-1), or 

produces the crown in house, depending on 

personal preference. If the customer wants a 

dental tattoo, the mold may be sent to a lab 

which specializes in such things, and a skilled 

artist typically does the tattoo work(figure- 

2,3,4,5,6,7) carefully painting a miniature design 

onto the tooth before it is sealed. 1,9 A drop of 

chemical(mild phosphoric acid)is put on the 

tooth and then tattoo is stuck on it, in case of 

temporary tattoos. 3 It usually takes 3-4weeks for 

the dental lab to complete the dental art. 2 


[VI]TATTOOS USED 

The tattoo is applied directly to the crown in the 

dental lab when the crown is being created. 11 

The image, selected by the patient, is carved into 

the crown by the artist/technician, then baked 

onto the crown to become a personalized 

embellishment, and is often an alternative to a 

body tattoo. 2 Popular categories in tooth 

tattooing include celebrities like David 

Beckham, Amy Winehouse, Diana, Princess of 

Wales, Simon Cowell and the Queen, flowers, 

religion, devotion to person or issue and 

animals. 2,4 

[VII]REVERSIBILITY 

Labs which make custom crowns with dental 

tattoos say that the tattoos can be removed by 

grinding away the upper layers of the crown, for 

people who later sour on their dental tattoos, but 

do not want to replace the entire crown. For 

even more temporary options, people can apply 

specialized decals to their teeth, although care 

should be taken when removing such decals to 

make sure that all residues is removed from the 

teeth, and to avoid swallowing the decals. 2 

[VIII]TOOTH TATTOOS ARE HARMLESS 

Since the tooth design system is applied directly 

to the crown 1 and it is painless 4 ,there is no 

additional drilling or damage to the actual 

tooth. 1 The fact that the most successful methods 

of identifying human remains is through 

Forensic Dental Identification also gives a 

reason for teeth tattoo. Tooth ID system is the 

latest simple yet advanced technology, helping 

to reduce the arduous task of matching dental 

records by imprinting personal information onto 

a tooth itself (i.e. social, society, number, 

phone number or any other information that ID’s 

the person). Also the system is resistant to 

intense heat and attrition and remains intact as 

long as the crown remains in the owner’s mouth 

and heat does not exceed the fusing temperature 

of porcelain i.e. 1900 0 C.The procedure is non 

Kriti Garg et al. 499

invasive and the end result is un-noticeable, 

except by professionals. 2 

[IX]DISADVANTAGE 

Rather than the actual tooth itself being tattooed, 

a false crown is implanted, features the ink on 

design. 2 

[X]REFERENCES 

1. http://www.squido.com/toothtattoo/design 

2. Oberai S.New age dentistry-dental tattoos.Dental 

Ocean;1(2) April-June 2010 

3. http://www.emaxhealth.com/6823786html 

4. http://www.identalhub.com/dental-what-aredental-tattoos-801.aspx 

5. http://www.diva.com/news-style-beautybeautytrend-get-a-dental-tattoo4711 

6. http://www.newsonlive.mywebdunia.com/20110 

628teeth-tattoo-in-fashion-now.html 

7. http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ 

2011-07-03beauty29730812-1-tattoos-dentalhygiene-designs 

8. http://www.bluebell25.wordpress.com/20110515 

dental-tatoos%E2%80%93-flash-that-smile 

9. http://www.toothartst.com 

10. http://www.dentalblog.priyakanwar.com/201109 

tattooth-tooth-tattoos-latest-trend.html 

11. http://www.post.jagran.com/looking-for-a-newplace-for-tattoo-how-about-a-tooth-1309073331 

FIGURES 

Figure-1 


Figure -2, 3 

Figure-4 


Figure-5 

Figure-6, 7

TATTOOTH: TOOTH TATTOO, A NEW RAGE IN BODY ART

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