The tooth makes the man!

Production is finally under way on the long-awaited sequel to "Dumb and Dumber," and Jim Carrey celebrated by posting a VERY up-close and personal photo Monday morning of his character Lloyd Christmas's trademark broken-toothed grin.

GESS HUUZ BAK BICHEZ? http://t.co/CK4VkZy5Ua — Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) September 8, 2013

Carrey's chipped tooth is no movie prop. The actor says he broke one of his choppers during a fight when he was in school. "Clark La Prairie jumped on my head in grade school detention,'' Carrey said in a 1995 interview. "The nuns sent me home with my tooth in an envelope."

Carrey's family soon had the tooth capped, but when preparing for "Dumb and Dumber," Carrey thought that the busted-tooth look would suit his mildly deranged character, so he had the cap removed. "De Niro gains weight, I file my teeth off," Carrey explained. Now that "Dumb and Dumber To" is in the works, Carrey went back to the dentist to recreate his character's signature smile.

[Related: It’s OK, Jim Carrey! ‘Dumb And Dumber To’ Is Saved]

And Carrey has plenty to smile about with this project. After years in limbo, "Dumb and Dumber To" looked to be a dead issue when Warner Bros., who owned the rights to the original, announced they had officially passed on the sequel in June. However, eight days later, Universal picked up the project, and now the movie looks to be on track to arrive in theaters by the end of 2014, just in time for the original film's 20th Anniversary.

Carrey will be joined yet again by Jeff Daniels as Lloyd's partner in idiocy, Harry Dunne. Peter and Bobby Farrelly are also back to direct and produce.

Now we're just waiting for Daniels to tweet a picture of that really awful haircut …

See Jeff Daniels (circa 1994) discussing Jim Carrey in his SNL monologue: