From The Substance to Mormon wives: the year pop culture’s stretched, stuffed faces became too strange to ignore

With the rising popularity of cosmetic procedures, women’s faces are being altered at a rate and to an extent that is impossible to ignore. Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images/Alamy

“Notice how the incisors and the canines are the same length?”

This is a question I asked and was asked at multiple gatherings with friends this year, our parties turning into mock dentistry symposiums as we zoomed in on photos of celebrities’ blindingly white, Chiclet-thick teeth. We were fascinated by the carbon-copy smiles of famous people. And it wasn’t just us, either. As the general public learns more about veneers – and how brutal the procedure to get them can be – a collective skepticism has formed. Sure, shaving your teeth down and taking on risks like tooth rot, lasting pain and a commitment to having the shells replaced every 10 years might get you a perfect smile. But along with that enamel, you’re shaving off a bit of what makes you recognizable as you.