twitter.comDid Kanye West really have his bottom teeth pulled out and replaced with diamonds!?
—Artie, via the inbox
He said as much to Ellen DeGeneres, during a visit to promote his new album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: "I just thought that diamonds were cooler. It's just something that rock stars are supposed to do."
Or not. According to several dentists, it's highly likely that Kanye is lying through his stones:
Instead, West's new implant is most likely a removable veneer.
"If he went to a dentist and asked him to remove healthy teeth, it's like going to your internist and asking him to remove one of your arms," says Dr. Ramin Tabib of NYC Smile Design. "It borders on malpractice to remove a healthy tooth."
(Beverly Hills cosmetic and restorative dentist Dr. Laurence Rifkin agrees, calling West's claim "absurd.")
Besides, Tabib says, West's dental work appears to jut out more than a little bit—a good indication that there are still teeth underneath.
"I am willing to bet that he's fabricating this story," Tabib ventures—or, at the very least, stretching the truth.
It's possible that a dentist removed some of West's teeth to make room for the grill, allowing West to make the kind of logicial leap that only megalomaniacs like him can manage.
One final thought: If West did indeed make a permanent tooth-bling swap, his ladies are in for quite an unpleasant shock.
"Those things are a terrible plaque traps, and your mouth will stink," he says. "The only way to make it work is to have the diamond piece be removable."
And that is a much more beautiful fantasy.