I’ve watched with interest the recent buzz about British actress Aimee Lou Wood as a result of her celebrated turn on season three of The White Lotus.
Generally, she is adored – both her character on the show and the actress herself. Aimee Lou does have critics, though, who question why she hasn’t had her teeth fixed.
You see, she has a set of choppers very different from the straight, white and even smile we’re used to seeing on American TV and film stars. She has the same overbite that I had before my parents invested in orthodonture for me at a young age.
You may think I am kidding or exaggerating, but a glance back at my childhood photos compared to any of Aimee Lou’s current Hollywood glamour shots will reveal the truth: they’re the same teeth.
It’s awful that some people are still mocking others’ overbites in 2025, when we should all know better by now. Back in the ’80s, I was made fun of mercilessly and endlessly about my protruding front teeth. I hated them.
I was called Bucky the Beaver, asked if I could open cans with them and innumerable other hateful and unclever remarks all through elementary and high school. The bullying was relentless and it really sucks to think back on it, honestly. I was such a cute kid otherwise, but those teeth – heavens. They entered every room before I did and made a terrible first impression.
The worst part is that it wasn’t just kids who didn’t know better. Even adults made rude comments about my buck teeth.
I’ll never forget that one time on a visit to England, I smiled at a stranger who had heard my brother and I talking in our American accents. This grown man recoiled from my smile and said “Oy, don’t they have enough money in America for you to fix those teeth?!” This is significant because England is notorious for having bad teeth, as depicted in movies like Austin Powers and TV shows like The Simpsons. So the fact that my teeth were openly mocked even in the UK remains an especially devastating core memory.
I started orthodontic treatment in elementary school and wore braces throughout middle school. That helped take some of the attention off my buck teeth, although, of course, I hated my braces, too.
Once my braces were on, I got called “Brace Face” but at least the awful comments about my buck teeth stopped. I stopped smiling for pictures around that time – I can’t find a single photo of me with braces on.
However, there’s good news: I was unstoppable once I got my braces off at 15 as a high school sophomore. I left all that bullying in the past and enjoyed my straight, dazzling smile. I love my smile – I got it from my mom, who also wore braces as a kid (as did my brother). Orthodontics works!
But back to Aimee Lou, because I love her teeth. I seriously, honestly and sincerely love them. I love that she’s unique, has character and stands out from the myriad of other actresses her age. I love that she has become a star not in spite of those teeth, but because of them. She and our overbite have soared into the stratosphere of celebrity and success on both sides of the pond.
I especially love that she stands up for herself when the media make fun of her, as is the case when SNL recently cruelly characterized her teeth in a skit. She called it “mean and unfunny,” and she was right. Although confession time: is it wrong that I chuckled when I first watched the skit, even as I also cringed in sympathy for her?
Aimee Lou is my hero. She stands tall and wears her buck teeth with pride – and she looks darn good doing it. I don’t regret my orthodontic work – or the round of Invisialign that I paid for myself in my 30s after my teeth had shifted a fair amount. But I am so glad there’s someone out there keeping my teeth au natural and being a fabulous, sexy success with them.
It makes me feel like maybe my overbite wasn’t so bad after all. Like maybe the problem was in those bullies being unkind to me, not in my poor choppers themselves. It makes me appreciate my own unique buck teeth more now that I can see ones like them on TV. It’s true what they say: representation matters. I guess that even goes for those of us who have unique or different teeth.
What did people make fun of you for as a kid – and have you come to claim and own that part of yourself, or do you distance yourself from it? I’d love to swap stories in the comments below or over on Facebook or Instagram!
