Update: While appearing on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, Dakota Johnson set the record straight on why she no longer has her signature gap-toothed smile.
"I had a permanent retainer since I was 13, and it was just glued to the back of my teeth," she explained. "I was having a lot of neck problems recently. So my orthodontist decided that it would be a good idea to take it off and see if my jaw expanded, and it helped me."
The end result? Gap no more. "My gap closed by itself," she said. "I'm really sad about it." (That makes two of us, girl.)
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But wait, just when we'd lost all hope, Johnson revealed that her gap is coming back. When Fallon, understandably, asked how exactly that'd be possible, Johnson said, "Other retainers. The world of dentistry is so advanced." Is that really a thing? Guess we'll have to wait and see. Shout-out to modern dentistry.
You can watch her full explanation, below.
This post was originally published on August 6, 2019.
Celebrity hair color or nail art switch-ups make headlines on the regular, but when was the last time a celebrity's newly-augmented smile made front-page news? Given that big, white, shiny veneers are already Hollywood's worst-kept secret, most dental tweaks happen firmly under-the-radar.
But when it comes to Dakota Johnson — one of the rare actresses who bucked that "perfect teeth" dental trend by proudly rocking her natural gap-toothed smile — suddenly changing her look, you can bet people will be talking.
At a screening of her film The Peanut Butter Falcon over the weekend, Johnson revealed that her iconic gap — which she once gleefully boasted could fit both toothpicks and credit cards — is no more, smiling wide to show her two front teeth now conjoined.
As you can imagine, Johnson's super-fans are emotional about this big change, taking to Twitter to mourn the loss of their favorite gap in Hollywood.
woke up to find out dakota johnson no longer has her tooth gap, i'll cry myself back to sleep.
— dilara elbir (@elbirdilara) August 3, 2019
is grieving over dakota johnson fixing her tooth gap a valid reason to not work
— iana murray (@ianamurray) August 2, 2019
dakota johnson’s front teeth gap ...... she was the mother i never had. she was the sister everybody would want. she was the friend that everybody deserves. i didn’t know a better gap. i didn’t know a better gap!
— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) August 3, 2019
dakota johnson no longer has a gap in her teeth and honestly i no longer have a reason to live
— maggie (@amaggiecanhoney) August 3, 2019
Cosmetic dentist Victoria Veytsman, DDS, suspects that Johnson's change likely isn't the result of veneers, but an altogether simpler procedure. "It was likely a short course of Invisalign treatment," Dr. Veytsman tells Refinery29 via email. "It's definitely not veneers, because her original teeth look like they are the same size, shape, and color."
Beverly Hills-based cosmetic dentist Matt Nejad, DDS, echoes that theory. "You could close a gap like that in a few weeks with Invisalign," Dr. Nejad says. Dr. Veytsman says that it could also be the result of bonding, which involves tooth-colored resin material applied to the teeth and shaped to look as natural as possible.
Though this may feel like a watershed moment for her fans, this is Johnson merely exercising her right to change her appearance however she pleases. Just like how one day she might get blonde highlights or yet another tattoo, clearly she thought it was time for the gap to go.