A diastema (plural diastemata) is a space or gap between two teeth. Many species of mammals have diastemata as a normal feature, most commonly between the incisors and molars. Diastemata are common for children and can exist in adult teeth as well. Diastemata are primarily caused by imbalance in the relationship between the jaw and the size of teeth. If the labial frenulum (lip tissue) pulls, it can also push the teeth apart and cause a diastema between the center of the two front teeth.
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In humans
In humans, the term is most commonly applied to an open space between the upper incisors (front teeth). It happens when there is an unequal relationship between the size of the teeth and the jaw.
Diastema is sometimes caused or exacerbated by the action of a labial frenulum (the tissue connecting the lip to the gum) causing high mucosal attachment and less attached keratinized tissue which is more prone to recession or by tongue thrusting, which can push the teeth apart.
In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote of the "gap-toothed wife of Bath". As early as this time period, the gap between the front teeth, especially in women, was associated with lustful characteristics. Thus, the implication in describing "the gap-toothed wife of Bath" is that she is a middle-aged woman with insatiable lust. This has no scientific basis, but it has been a common premise in folklore since the Middle Ages.
In Ghana, Namibia and Nigeria, diastemata are regarded as being attractive and a sign of fertility, and some people have even had them created through cosmetic dentistry. In France, they are called "dents du bonheur" ("lucky teeth"). This expression originated in Napoleon's time: when the Napoleonic army recruited, it was imperative that soldiers had incisors in perfect condition because they had to open the paper cartridges (containing powder and ball) with their teeth when loading their muskets. All those who had teeth apart were then classified as unfit to fight. Some men broke their own teeth to avoid going to war. Les Blank's Gap-Toothed Women is a documentary film about diastematic women.
Some well-known people noted for having diastema include country music singer Charley Pride, models Jessica Hart, Lindsey Wixson, Lauren Hutton, Georgia May Jagger and Lara Stone, American television news reporter and anchor Michelle Charlesworth, American football player Michael Strahan, actresses Vanessa Paradis, Léa Seydoux, Amira Casar, Eve Myles, Cécile de France, Béatrice Dalle, Jorja Fox, Anna Paquin and Uzo Aduba, singer/guitarist Ray Davies of The Kinks, musician Elvis Costello, actors Ernest Borgnine, Terry-Thomas, and Jamaica's Keith 'Shebada' Ramsay, singers Madonna, Melanie Martinez, Becky G, and Laura Pausini, singer Edmund Sylvers, singer-songwriters Elton John, Mac DeMarco and Seal, rock musician Flea, rapper 50 Cent, former late night TV show host David Letterman, guitarist Steve Howe, comedian Paul F. Tompkins, professional wrestler and former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode, Major League Baseball player Jimmy Rollins, singer Bobby Brown and his daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice., and according to released photos the daughters of the last Tsar the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia and their brother the Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia.
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References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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