Kazimiera
07-21-2014, 07:02 PM
Japanese Teeth Blackening – Ohaguro
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5h80bIZDp1r8vrhxo1_500.jpg
We went over Yabea earlier, an oddity occurring in Japan for women to have fang like teeth (as seen by Kristen Dunst or Avril Lavigne). There was another oddity that the Japanese previously used to help preserve their teeth known as Ohaguro. This was the custom of dying ones teeth black. It was thought that showing your white teeth was like showing off the white of your bones. In was an attempt to obscure and preserve the health of teeth. It was used in ancient times, and the pitch black glaze was thought to be beautiful, used also as an indicator of wealth. The term itself “Ohaguro” is an aristocratic term.
It was mostly done by married women, and actually has been proven to prevent tooth decay by preventing low levels of pH from wearing away at the enamel. It functions similarly to dental sealants.
It was outlawed in the Meiji Era (1878 through 1912) as an attempt to be more approachable to the Western world. Mostly seen in the Edo period, it was used by aristocrats and women who had an interest in keeping up their sexual appeal, such as young girls, wealthy wives, and geishas. For people in rural places, ohaguro was only really used for special ceremonies such as weddings and funerals.
Ohaguro has also been closely associated with folklore and ghosts. One famous tale is of Ohaguro Bettari. It’s a ghost of a Japanese lady in a bridal kimono width blackened teeth. She appears however, lacking other facial features, such as eyes and a nose, just a blank face with an eerie black smile.
What was this black dye?
The main ingredient was a dark brown by-product created when dissolving iron filings in vinegar. It would be combined with teas that would cause it to turn black. You would apply the dye once a day and you will eventually get your perfectly black teeth. It also helped keep your teeth safe from dental erosion.
The truth is that this took a large appeal because yellow teeth were seen as really unattractive. This was probably the largest driving factor to black teeth because we could not figure out how to dye teeth white in that period. The wife of a samurai simply wanted to hide her yellow teeth, a mark of age, and this helped cover unattractive features, much like make-up. Snow like complexion, long black hair, and solid black teeth was an ideal for many women.
This was actually common in many different cultures, not just in the Japanese culture. Vietnamese and Chinese cultures both also adopted dying their teeth black.
Source: http://www.dentaldynamicsonline.com/japanese-teeth-blackening-ohaguro
http://www.dentaldynamicsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ohaguro01.jpg
http://www.dentaldynamicsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ohaguro-or-black-teeth.jpg
http://31.media.tumblr.com/7611a3e3d99fb36d0d9de94695045ff3/tumblr_mxiwb44Pbs1qcwhbgo1_400.jpg
https://a1-images.myspacecdn.com/images03/29/e757c76105d24fa1ba136d4dbcc26746/300x300.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-B54dRy6TRuA/UwyZcuj2oGI/AAAAAAAAMDs/SUaVj_5FSiI/s512/2.jpg
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5h80bIZDp1r8vrhxo1_500.jpg
We went over Yabea earlier, an oddity occurring in Japan for women to have fang like teeth (as seen by Kristen Dunst or Avril Lavigne). There was another oddity that the Japanese previously used to help preserve their teeth known as Ohaguro. This was the custom of dying ones teeth black. It was thought that showing your white teeth was like showing off the white of your bones. In was an attempt to obscure and preserve the health of teeth. It was used in ancient times, and the pitch black glaze was thought to be beautiful, used also as an indicator of wealth. The term itself “Ohaguro” is an aristocratic term.
It was mostly done by married women, and actually has been proven to prevent tooth decay by preventing low levels of pH from wearing away at the enamel. It functions similarly to dental sealants.
It was outlawed in the Meiji Era (1878 through 1912) as an attempt to be more approachable to the Western world. Mostly seen in the Edo period, it was used by aristocrats and women who had an interest in keeping up their sexual appeal, such as young girls, wealthy wives, and geishas. For people in rural places, ohaguro was only really used for special ceremonies such as weddings and funerals.
Ohaguro has also been closely associated with folklore and ghosts. One famous tale is of Ohaguro Bettari. It’s a ghost of a Japanese lady in a bridal kimono width blackened teeth. She appears however, lacking other facial features, such as eyes and a nose, just a blank face with an eerie black smile.
What was this black dye?
The main ingredient was a dark brown by-product created when dissolving iron filings in vinegar. It would be combined with teas that would cause it to turn black. You would apply the dye once a day and you will eventually get your perfectly black teeth. It also helped keep your teeth safe from dental erosion.
The truth is that this took a large appeal because yellow teeth were seen as really unattractive. This was probably the largest driving factor to black teeth because we could not figure out how to dye teeth white in that period. The wife of a samurai simply wanted to hide her yellow teeth, a mark of age, and this helped cover unattractive features, much like make-up. Snow like complexion, long black hair, and solid black teeth was an ideal for many women.
This was actually common in many different cultures, not just in the Japanese culture. Vietnamese and Chinese cultures both also adopted dying their teeth black.
Source: http://www.dentaldynamicsonline.com/japanese-teeth-blackening-ohaguro
http://www.dentaldynamicsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ohaguro01.jpg
http://www.dentaldynamicsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ohaguro-or-black-teeth.jpg
http://31.media.tumblr.com/7611a3e3d99fb36d0d9de94695045ff3/tumblr_mxiwb44Pbs1qcwhbgo1_400.jpg
https://a1-images.myspacecdn.com/images03/29/e757c76105d24fa1ba136d4dbcc26746/300x300.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-B54dRy6TRuA/UwyZcuj2oGI/AAAAAAAAMDs/SUaVj_5FSiI/s512/2.jpg