Gap Teeth Meaning in Africa (Explained)

Gap teeth meaning in Africa is attached to many things, some which are very true and some which are just mere myth. While each country might have their own meaning of gap teeth, Africa countries also have their own meaning too.

An Indian website youngisthan.in said “India is known for often relating physical features of a human being with their certain personality, behaviour and bad luck. And having a gap between your upper front teeth are also included”.

Africans like in other continent is also known to always attach man’s personality and ability to his physical features.

Oh! you don’t have the idea of what gap teeth mean.

Have you seen Mike Tyson (an American former professional boxer) before?

Gap teeth meaning in Africa
Mike Tyson gap teeth

Or America movie actor Samuel Jackson or our own African- Eddie Murphy (one of the all-time best comedians in Hollywood).  

Gap teeth meaning in Africa
Eddie Murphy’s gap teeth

Yea, that’s gap teeth. Eddie Murphy’s gap teeth are one of the cutest gap teeth ever. Before going to what Gap teeth mean in Africa, you should know what gap teeth are.

Gap teeth meaning

You might be wondering what gap teeth are.

Gap teeth also known as Diastema in medical terms is the space between the teeth that is wider than 0.5 millimetres (0.02 inch). While gap teeth are mostly noticed in African women because of how it adds to their beauty, I want you to know that it also very common in children until the growing permanent teeth.

According to Medical News Today, a diastema (gap teeth) may result;

  • If a person’s teeth are too small, relative to the size of their jawbone,
  • Jawbone and tooth sizes can be genetic, which is one reason that diastemas can run in families.
  • If some teeth are missing or smaller than others.
  • If The labial frenum is oversized i.e., the tissue that extends from the inside of the upper lip to the gum above the upper front teeth.
  • In people with gum disease, inflammation results in damage to the bone that supports the teeth. Eventually, the teeth may become loose, and gaps can appear.
  • Also, habits such as thumb sucking, lip sucking, tongue thrusting, and similar habits can put pressure on the front teeth, pushing them forward.
  • Loss of primary teeth
  • Children can develop temporary diastemas when their primary teeth, or baby teeth, fall out. When their permanent, or adult, teeth come in, these gaps typically close.

Do you have a sudden gap teeth that wasn’t there before?

See what to do

And I want to believe these causes are the reason why gap teeth are common in Africa.

Having said that, in some African countries, people also create gap teeth artificially If they can’t get it naturally. So, what are Gap teeth meaning in Africa:

6 Gap teeth meaning in Africa

Gap teeth are common among Africans, In West Africa like in Nigeria, they are considered a sign of beauty and as a sign of luck in East Africa. Nevertheless, below are Gap teeth meaning in Africa;

Beauty

It is no more news that beauty is the most common thing they speak of one who has diastema or dimples. Did you see how beautiful some of these Celebrities with gap teeth are? The likes of Eniola Ajao,

Gap teeth meaning in Africa
Eniola Ajao’s gap teeth

Kehinde Bankole,

Gap teeth meaning in Africa
Kehinde Bankole’s gap teeth

Even her twin sister Taiwo Bankole

Gap teeth meaning in Africa
Taiwo Bankole’s gap teeth

Juliana Olayode

Gap teeth meaning in Africa
Juliana Olayode

Adesua Etomi, Dorathy Bachor in BBNaija and the rest. They are so beautiful!

This does not imply that everyone with a gap tooth is handsome or beautiful, especially one that forces it. But in every 50 people, 44 will be beautiful. Don’t ask how I got the statistics, smiles…

Read also: Starting a long-distance relationship with a friend

Check out yourself! If you have one or two people with gap teeth as I do, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Before I move to the next gap teeth meaning in Africa, let me give you one piece of advice, if you are a man and you’re competing with someone to woo a lady, don’t let it be a guy with gap teeth. There is a reason for everything

At the same time if you’re dating a gap-toothed girl, double your hustle.  So you won’t say she’s cheating on you.

Lively to be with

Did you have a boring friend? Why don’t try someone with gap teeth?

In most African country including Nigeria, a person with gap teeth is seen as talkative, at the same time lively to be with. And I’m a witness of this, there is this friend of mine, he will never leave you until he is able to say everything in his mind.

So, this makes me wonder, you are not a girl, so why then do you talk too much? But later I realized it’s because he is gap-toothed. Nevertheless, he is fun to be with.

People also read: Low-key boyfriend

A good smiler

Another obvious gap teeth meaning in Africa. Have you ever noticed that a person with gap teeth smile a lot,

But I don’t blame them for that how will you know they have gap teeth if they don’t show it like that of someone advertising toothpaste? Or maybe, they are following the saying that “smile adds to your face value.”

They are beloved and Lucky one

Yes, you heard me! They are beloved. Tell me who don’t want beautiful people around him/her. Or who don’t want to be with lively people, except you’re a sadist.

Signs he regret cheating on you

Do you remember my first statement too, at the beginning of this post? Go and recheck!

In Africa, People feel since they are not having what he or she has (i.e., the gap teeth) it is God’s gift and that he or she is so lucky to have it, So, they tend to show them, love.

They are intelligent

Are you having a gap tooth? Or having someone with gap teeth, please how true is this?

Yes, I know I said I have friends with gap teeth too, but I don’t want them to start feeling themselves. But the truth is that they never seize to have an idea, they are smart thinkers, they are versatile.

Even though I don’t know how teeth are connected with thinking. But they have a sparkling brain. Oh! I already said I don’t want them to start feeling themselves.

Full of confidence

Another gap teeth meaning in Africa is that one with gap teeth is full of confidence. I don’t know what does give them confidence, Confidence is an understatement.

Overconfidence it is. With that their hole in that front teeth, they don’t fear.

A must-read: How to grow a beard faster at 16

To round it up

Gap teeth meaning in Africa, is something that varies based on some cultural or ethnical belief, or even personal belief.

As we claim people with gap teeth are beautiful, some will insist they are the ugliest set of people they knew, While some people are looking to close the gap teeth, some are looking for every means to create one for themselves. 

But one thing you should never get wrong is the myth people relate to gap teeth meaning in Africa is that it’s a sign of bad health. No! Aside from the above-mentioned causes of gap teeth, it should also be seen as a blessing from God.

Nonetheless, Africa countries like Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa etc. believe that a person with gap teeth will possess at least one of the above mentioned or even all of them. And they are that people with gap teeth are beautiful, intelligent, talkative, beloved, full of confidence.

What did you know of one with gap teeth?

What did you know about Gap teeth meaning in Africa?

Drop it below in the comment section.

And also make sure you share with all gap-toothed people you know.

FAQ

Why do a lot of African women have gap teeth?

Gap teeth are common among Africa women because it has to do with inheritance, which is particularly connected to Africans.
Secondly, because a lot of Africans believed gap teeth to be a sign of beauty, African women tend to keep it, and thus making it seems to be common among African women.

While in some countries they are getting rid of it, women in African countries leave it believing it adds to their beauty.

What are Gap teeth meaning in Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and other Africa Countries?

After knowing what Gap teeth mean in Africa.
You may also want to know what some of these African countries also call gap teeth.

Check out what gap teeth is called in some of the most popular African languages.

Swahili (Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya)- meno ya pengo
Afrikaans (South Africa)- gaping tande
French (Gabon, Mauritius, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Sao Tome e Principe)- dents écartées

 

Abdulbasit
  • Abdulbasit

3 Comments

  • Gap teeth + dimple= ✴️

  • A sign of a Queen

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