The Hollywood Effect: World’s Most Famous Celebrity Smile Belongs to Actor Tom Cruise
New research has revealed that Hollywood star Tom Cruise has the world’s most famous celebrity smile. Over the past year his teeth have received an average of 60,000 Google searches monthly.
Canadian dental care experts Altima Dental looked at the number of Google searches globally for popular celebrities, combining their names with the terms “smile” and “teeth”. These two values were then added together to rank the celebrities, revealing which ones had the most famous smiles.
American actor Tom Cruise has been in the industry since the early eighties, and has undergone several dental procedures since his onscreen debut. As well as realigning his teeth, the actor reportedly had his teeth whitened and porcelain veneers fitted to perfect his Hollywood smile. He has never shied away from showing the progression of his smile, openly revealing his braces on the red carpet in 2002. More adults are choosing to have similar dental work carried out – since 1989 there has been a 40% increase in adults seeing orthodontists.
Queen frontman Freddie Mercury came in second place with 55,000 monthly searches. The singer’s iconic smile was reportedly due to a condition called mesiodens which is the presence of more than one extra tooth. Mercury is said to have attributed his vocal range to the four extra teeth he had, believing they increased his palate and improved resonance. The singer worried that removing the extra teeth would change his vocals, therefore he opted out of altering his smile. Whilst this theory is still under some debate, it is clear the condition is unique – only 0.15% to 1.9% of the population have mesiodens.
In third place is former NFL player and television personality Michael Strahan, with 27,000 monthly searches. Earlier this year for April Fool’s Day, he tricked fans into believing he had closed his trademark tooth gap by uploading a video of himself at the dentist. Afterwards he owned up to the prank and confirmed that he was happy to embrace his natural signature smile.
A spokesperson for Altima Dental commented on the research “A smile is a very personal attribute so it is exciting to see how celebrities have not only customised their smiles to suit their desired look, they have also celebrated their individuality. Additionally, it shows how the ‘Hollywood Smile’ has changed over the years making it more inclusive and more attainable for those wishing to take inspiration.”
In fourth and fifth place are Jimin and Jungkook from the K-Pop group BTS. Their total monthly searches were 17,400 and 14,600 respectively. Earlier this year Jimin announced he may be getting braces to realign his front tooth as it was causing issues. Fans had mixed views as they love his smile, however ultimately they were supportive of his decision to sort the problem.
BTS fans, known as the “ARMY”, are known for their loyalty. A video of Jungkook brushing his teeth led to fans tracking down his toothbrush and purchasing it, making it unavailable across several shopping outlets.
Rapper Post Malone ranks sixth with a total of 12,400 searches monthly. He took the term ‘million dollar smile’ quite literally, reportedly spending $1.6 million on porcelain veneers combined with two diamond fangs weighing 12 carats.
Another member of BTS, Kim Tae-hyung lands in seventh with a combined average of 11,200 searches per month. Searches for his smile appeared under the keyword “Taehyung” however he is more commonly referred to by his stage name V.
Rapper Cardi B took eighth place with her teeth receiving 11,000 monthly searches. After a string of music successes, Cardi treated herself to a set of veneers worth a reported $12,500.
Johnny Depp ranks in ninth place with a total of 9,600 Google searches per month. The actor has embraced his natural smile, choosing to enhance his teeth with a few gold caps. He even kept them for his character Captain Jack Sparrow in the film Pirates of the Caribbean.
In tenth is Ariana Grande with 9,500 searches per month. In 2018 she reportedly had her wisdom teeth taken out which is a common dental procedure. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons estimated that 85% of wisdom teeth will eventually require removal.