Leave Dakota Johnson’s Teeth Alone
In this week’s absolutely unnecessary scandals, Dakota Johnson became the fixture of internet speculation when fans noticed a particular change with the actor’s teeth. More specifically they pointed out that the gap between her two front teeth appears to now be closed. (The shock! The horror!) The headline-worthy fixation on her dental status got so out of hand that Johnson actually had to address it on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night, where, instead of discussing her new film, The Peanut Butter Falcon, she was reduced to answering to internet trolls.
The explanation for the teethgate? Johnson told Fallon she recently had a retainer behind her teeth that she’s had since she was a teenager removed, claiming, “I was having a lot of neck problems recently, so my orthodontist, she decided that it would be a good idea to take it off and see if my jaw expanded. It helped me, and my gap closed by itself.” She continued, “As you grow as a human being, your skull expands and your jaw and your teeth move. Your teeth don’t look like they did when you were a baby.” And there you have it.
Johnson went on to acknowledge how silly this whole controversy is, adding that the headlines about her are “really stressing me out.” Especially with the current news stories going around—a gun violence epidemic, for one—the actor rightfully shared that “the fact that this is a newsworthy event in our world right now is pretty sh-Chaka Khan to me.”
And listen, we get it: Gap teeth are beautiful. They should be celebrated! That perfectly imperfect smile has skyrocketed the careers of supermodels from Brigitte Bardot to Lara Stone, after all. But if Johnson’s is no longer, that’s nothing to frown about—though Johnson did admit she is “sad” about the closing of the gap, adding, “I had to deal with a whole new world of problems, getting food stuck in my tooth. Because before it would just slide right through…So I’d really appreciate some privacy in this time.” You heard her.
Originally Appeared on Vogue
