CULTURE

Dakota Johnson Is Mourning the Loss of Her Tooth Gap

“I’d really appreciate some privacy at this time.”

by Steph Eckardt

Premiere Of 20th Century FOX's "Bad Times At The El Royale" - Arrivals
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Last week, Dakota Johnson made a seemingly ordinary appearance on the red carpet of The Peanut Butter Falcon‘s premiere in Los Angeles. But in the days since, as photos of the event circulated online, a number of fastidious fans noticed that something was missing: Johnson’s beloved, signature tooth gap, which turns out to have a very niche, and yet very devoted, cult following. Indeed, the news of its demise caused enough of a stir that it even managed to overshadow the paparazzi’s documentation of Johnson going for a swim with Chris Martin, her supposed ex.

The shock waves haven’t escaped Johnson—nor Jimmy Fallon, who turned the actress’s appearance on The Tonight Show on Tuesday into a eulogy of sorts, following Johnson’s confirmation that it is indeed the end of the tooth gap era. “It’s really stressing me out,” she told Fallon of her strikingly invested fans’ reactions to the news. “The fact this is a newsworthy event in our world right now is pretty Chaka Khan to me.” (We assume this is Johnson’s way of saying “shocking.”)

Dakota Johnson, smiling sans her signature tooth gap, at a Los Angeles screening of *The Peanut Butter Falcon* in Hollywood on August 1, 2019.

Chris Delmas/AFP/Getty Images

But according to Johnson, the move to close the gap was not, as had been speculated, an aesthetic decision. “I had a permanent retainer since I was 13, and it was just glued to the back of my teeth,” she said. “I was having a lot of neck problems recently so my orthodontist, she decided it would be a good idea to take it off and see if my jaw expanded, and it helped me. And my gap closed by itself.” If you, like Fallon, are wondering the connection between Johnson’s neck problems and spacing of her front teeth, allow her to explain: “As you grow as a human being, your skull expands and your jaw and teeth move. Your teeth don’t look like they do when you were baby.”

Hopefully, the fans mourning the loss of representation for the gap-toothed community will take comfort in the fact that Johnson is mourning, too. “I’m really sad about it too,” the actress continued. “I have to deal with a whole new world of problems getting food stuck in my tooth. Before it would slide right through.” A distressed Johnson then went on to prevent Fallon’s efforts to change topics: “Hold on, this is really important.” said “I’m sad about my gap tooth too so I’d really appreciate some privacy at this time.”

Still, there’s a bit of hope: “[The gap] is going to come back [with] other retainers,” Johnson added (admittedly with a laugh). “The world of dentistry is so advanced.” In the meantime, you can attempt to swallow your sorrows by revisiting the now practically legendary video Johnson made with Vanity Fair at the peak of her tooth gap’s glory days—when it proved spacious enough to fit everything from a credit card to a twig.

Related: Demi Moore Says She Lost Her Two Front Teeth Due to Stress