Black Teeth as a Symbol of Luxury and social status

Today, a bright white smile is associated with health and beauty. However, in 16th and 17th century Europe, a surprising cultural phenomenon occurred: blackened and decayed teeth came to be seen as a symbol of luxury and social status. During that era, a ruined smile was not a source of embarrassment among the elite—it could actually signify privilege. But how could such a visible sign of poor dental health become fashionable? In this article, we explore the historical, dietary, and social roots of this strange trend, with examples from England, France, and Spain, and analyze how this perception evolved over time.

Sugar: A Luxury Reserved for Europe’s Elite

The main explanation lies in the exclusive consumption of sugar, a product that in the 16th and 17th centuries was extremely expensive and only accessible to the upper classes. Sugarcane, originally from Asia, had been introduced to Europe centuries earlier, but only during the Renaissance did it begin to arrive in larger volumes thanks to colonial expansion and global maritime trade. Still, it remained a luxury good, comparable in value to jewels or spices, and functioned almost like a currency of prestige among nobles. Only the very wealthy could afford to sweeten their feasts with sugar, which became a clear symbol of power in European courts.

In Elizabethan England, for instance, sugar was considered an extravagant delicacy reserved for royalty and their entourage. The court of Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) was famous for its sugar-laden banquets, where marzipan sculptures, imported confections, and ornate desserts showcased status. Sugar was added liberally even to savory dishes, and it was erroneously believed to have medicinal properties. Far from being seen as harmful, sugar was embraced as a royal indulgence.

Behind this indulgence lay major geopolitical and economic shifts. Colonial expansion, particularly in the Americas and the Caribbean, enabled the rise of sugar plantations that fed European demand. This supply was made possible—tragically—by enslaved labor from Africa. Still, in 16th-century Europe, refined sugar remained rare and exorbitantly priced; a table full of sweets was a display of extreme wealth. In contrast, the lower classes had little to no access to sugar, and their simpler diets largely protected them from the “sweet plague” affecting the aristocracy. Ironically, peasants had healthier teeth precisely because they couldn’t afford sugar—dental decay became a “luxury disease.”

Rotting Smiles in the Royal Courts

This “sugar fever” led to widespread dental decay among the elite. Overindulgence in sweets left many nobles with blackened, decayed, or missing teeth—what today would be considered a clear sign of neglect was, at the time, a status symbol. Perhaps the most famous case is Queen Elizabeth I of England, known for her extreme love of sugar. She consumed candied treats at nearly every meal and was particularly fond of crystallized violets. Unsurprisingly, her teeth were in terrible condition. Historical records describe her as suffering from extensive tooth decay, missing teeth, frequent pain, and halitosis.

A German traveler, Paul Hentzner, who visited her court in 1598, wrote that her “teeth were black” and attributed it to “the excessive use of sugar among the English.” A French ambassador, André Hurault de Maisse, also noted the state of Elizabeth’s teeth, saying they were “very yellow and uneven, and several were missing,” which made her speech difficult to understand.

Elizabeth was not alone. Other nobles and monarchs across Europe’s Renaissance courts had similarly ruined teeth. The Habsburg emperors, who ruled Spain, Austria, and much of Europe, were known for their decaying black teeth due to excessive sugar consumption. In France, Catherine de’ Medici brought refined desserts and pastries into court culture, and by the 17th century, French aristocrats were regularly indulging in sweets, likely suffering the same dental consequences. By then, rotting teeth were almost a badge of honor among the elite.

It’s important to note that dental hygiene was primitive at best. People cleaned their teeth with cloths or wooden toothpicks, and some used home-made toothpaste that included sugar, worsening the damage. Tooth extractions, the only solution for unbearable pain, were brutal procedures performed without anesthesia, often by barbers or blacksmiths using horrifying tools. Queen Elizabeth, terrified of tooth pulling, once reportedly forced a bishop to have a tooth removed in front of her just to prove it wasn’t so painful.

The Strange Aesthetic: Black Teeth as Fashion

It is indeed paradoxical that such an unattractive condition became fashionable. But in that cultural context, only the rich could afford sugar, so their blackened teeth became a mark of elite status. Dental decay was almost a luxury: if you had rotting teeth, you were probably a noble.

This led to one of the strangest fashion trends in history. In Elizabethan England, it became fashionable to blacken one’s teeth on purpose to emulate the Queen and her court. Courtiers even painted their teeth black to avoid making the monarch feel self-conscious and to look fashionable. Among the lower classes, some people reportedly used soot or charcoal to stain their teeth black and appear wealthier. In this bizarre twist, the more decayed your smile, the higher your perceived social rank.

This may sound absurd today, but at the time, a blackened smile was a display of excess and exclusivity—a sign you could afford sugar and enjoy it in abundance. A person with perfect white teeth might be seen as poor or unable to partake in the luxuries of the court.

From Wealth Symbol to Health Crisis

This peculiar trend didn’t last forever. By the 18th century, several factors reversed the aesthetic. Firstly, sugar became more widely available, thanks to increased global supply and the rise of industrial food production. As the price dropped, even the middle and lower classes began consuming sugar, and dental problems became a mass public health issue, no longer exclusive to the elite.

At the same time, medicine and dentistry advanced. Already in Elizabethan times, some physicians had noticed the link between sugar and dental decay. During the Enlightenment, interest in hygiene and health grew. Pierre Fauchard’s The Surgeon Dentist (1728) laid the foundations for modern dentistry, and toothbrushes began to be used more widely. By the 19th century, white teeth had replaced black ones as the aesthetic ideal. Scientific studies throughout the 19th century linked sugar to cavities, obesity, and diabetes, and public health campaigns began to warn against sugar abuse.

Thus, what was once a status symbol became a sign of poor health and neglect. The association between black teeth and nobility disappeared. In the 20th and 21st centuries, dental aesthetics shifted completely, with straight white teeth becoming the global standard of beauty and hygiene.

What we consider beautiful—or prestigious—can change radically over time. In 16th and 17th century Europe, dental decay was not a source of shame but a mark of wealth. The blackened smiles of the aristocracy reflected a time when excess and privilege outweighed health concerns. Today, this curious historical chapter reminds us that our standards of beauty and success are not fixed—they are shaped by economics, medicine, fashion, and social values.