Expert gives his opinion on Ye's new titanium denture

Much is being made of the latest eccentricity of Kanye West who on Wednesday posted a photo on Instagram Stories showing off his new Titanium dentures valued at almost $1 million. The questions about it haven’t stopped since: is it real, is it a fixed denture, has he removed his teeth? We spoke to renowned dentist Fernando Soria to find out.

HIGHXTAR (H) – What has Kanye West done to his teeth?

DR. FERNANDO SORIA (DR) – Kanye West is wearing a titanium prosthetic restoration inspired by the anatomy, shape and design of the James Bond villain. This titanium prosthesis is cemented to his real teeth, which have been polished beforehand. This can be done thanks to the CAD-CAM technology that we use in dentistry to design human and/or animal teeth, in this case shark teeth.

(H) – How is the procedure of placing a prosthetic restoration of this calibre?

(DR) – Clinically, in order to place these types of restorations, you have to prepare your teeth, even if it is minimal, because you have to eliminate retentive angles of your teeth to allow a correct axis of insertion of the prosthesis. Therefore, the fact that the tooth, a healthy tissue, has to be worn down to be replaced by titanium as in this case, is a very personal decision, like those who wear down their teeth minimally to have ceramic, very white or biomimetic dental veneers.

We cannot judge such a particular taste, we may like it more or less but we can create an opinion about other people’s tastes. Nowadays, everything is designed with CAD-CAM technology. In other words, the future prosthesis is designed on the computer, whether it is a normal tooth shape or a shark shape as in this case. The software makes it possible to design any kind of shape and anatomy. Once designed, a milling machine will transform a block of ceramic or titanium into the future restoration, the future bridge, with the shape previously designed in the computer.

(H) – Are these types of treatments really in demand?

(DR) – These types of treatments are booming among a very specific public who are inspired by artists such as the one now known by the name of YE as he is a character who, whatever he does, sets trends and is considered a style icon by millions of people.

(H) – Is it a healthy treatment?

(DR) – Any restorative treatment that improves the patient’s quality of life is good, you would have to look at the individual artist’s case. In this case Kanye West seems satisfied because he has managed to have something unique, exclusive and practically unattainable for the rest of the people. This treatment costs around 850,000 dollars.

(H) – Could you eat with these teeth?

(DR) – Eating, if it has a proper anatomy, with cusps and pits like normal teeth, the patient will be able to eat properly. Whenever we restore a mouth we must restore function and aesthetics, (although in this case aesthetics is personal and peculiar).

(H) – Is the treatment reversible and can it lead to future conditions or diseases?

(DR) – If the wear that was done on your teeth to place the titanium prosthesis is minimal, it can be a reversible treatment. If the fit of this titanium prosthesis is correct, the same that we usually place for a bridge, crown or ceramic veneer, you should not have any problems in the future. However, you will have to maintain proper hygiene and care.

(H) – What is your opinion of this intervention?

(DR) – They are more or less aesthetic trends, in which the aesthetic point of view is a personal perception. But every therapeutic and aesthetic act that we perform on our patients, the aim is always to be minimally invasive, to satisfy the personal wishes of our patients, within coherent and ethical limits, and that these treatments are not harmful to the teeth of our patients in the long term. We cannot judge such a particular taste, we may like it more or less, but we cannot create an opinion about other people’s tastes.