Why are Japanese women paying hundreds of pounds to make perfectly straight teeth look crooked and fang-like?

The look, known as the 'yaeba' look, is well-liked by men who find it 'childlike'

Cosmetic procedure involves attaching mini-fangs to canine teeth



It may be a look more commonly associated with a vampire, but it seems crooked teeth - or fangs - are all the rage across the pacific.



Japanese women are going crazy for a crowded, crooked-toothed smile with accentuated canine teeth.



The look, known as the 'yaeba' look, is well-liked by men, who find the imperfect smile they form endearingly childlike and attractive.

A young woman who has undergone a cosmetic procedure to get crooked, fang-like teeth after the look became popular in Japan

Japanese women of all ages have been flocking to dental clinics to have either temporary or permanent artificial canines

Popular at dentists in Tokyo, a cosmetic procedure to create the yaeba effect involves attaching non-permanent or permanent adhesive mini-fangs to canine teeth.

Yaeba literally means 'multilayered' or 'double' tooth, and describes the fanged look achieved when molars crowd the canines, pushing them forward.

And while many people in the UK pay to have their teeth straightened, it appears others are paying for quite the opposite.



'Yaeba' literally means 'multilayered' or 'double' tooth, and describes the fanged look achieved when molars crowd the canines

The look is popular among men who find the imperfect smile they form endearingly childlike

'Cute': Young women pictured after they have had adhesive mini-fangs attached to their canine teeth

The craze has been sparked by national pop stars and celebrities who have made the 'fang-look' a hit in the country, according to Japan Today .

Japanese women of all ages have been flocking to dental clinics to have either temporary or permanent artificial canines, called ' tsuke-yaeba', glued to their teeth.

Doctors are charging as much as $390 (£246) for the alteration.

Such is the popularity of the fanged-looked, a girl group was even named after the procedure.

The group was called TYB48 (tsuke-yaeba48), and they held their debut concert in Tokyo last April.

Clinic director Taro Masuoka came up with the idea for a pop group based on the term tsuke-yaeba.

He told Japan Today: ' Yaeba’ give girls an impish cuteness.

'It’s a sense of beauty unique to the Japanese, but ‘yaeba’ can be an attractive feature on women in their teens and twenties.'

He offers a half-price discount on the procedure for middle school and high school students - as long as they have ID.

Some women change their minds and decide to have their ' tsuke-yaeba' taken off - for which they pay the same price.