Million dollar smile for Valentine's Day can be risky

Doctors say tooth jewellery, which is becoming a craze before Valentine's Day, can be hazardous for health

"You have nice teeth," said Rahul Bose's character to his lady love in the film Split Wide Open. "That's original," she replied, and opened her heart and arms to him. Now, real-life PYTs are taking to teeth jewellery to flash that million-dollar smile to their loved ones on Valentine's Day.

It's all about doing things differently after all! As Valentine's Day comes near, those in love are racking their brains to come up with innovative gift ideas and also enhance their personal charms to impress their chosen ones. And this year, it's all about teeth jewellery. Crystals and diamonds you thought can only be worn on the neck or the fingers can now be attached to your teeth as well.

"Cosmetic dentistry has a lot to offer today. Besides smile correction, a lot of youngsters are opting for dental jewellery and dental tattoos. The dental jewellery procedure is a rather simple one. The crystal is fixed to your teeth by etching the surface of the teeth first. Then, the jewel is glued using a light cure composite material," said Dr Heman Varma, Dental Surgeon, Gurgaon."I find the tooth stud very sexually attractive. I think it's a great weapon to woo men" said Vatsala Sharma, a second year student of Delhi University.

But city doctors feel going for such surgeries will damage the teeth as putting stones on teeth will reduce their life span."Being a doctor, I will not advise this to my patients. It is just a fashion statement, but one should think about the harmful effects too. The jewellery will be injected in the teeth by creating a cavity. It will surely damage the teeth," said Dr Neeraj Verma, Senior Consultant, Dental Surgery, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.

Speaking Red Roses for Valentine's Day Special

For the first time ever, florists at the International Flower Auction Bangalore Ltd are introducing real red roses with digitally printed love messages on the petals

Want to gift someone you love something unique this Valentine's Day? Well, there certainly is a novel option you can choose. Florists in Bangalore have introduced real red roses with love messages digitally printed on the petals. Mushy messages such as 'I love you' and 'Be mine' -- or what ever you may fancy can be printed within a minute. And, an added incentive is that you get to choose colours like gold, yellow or white lettering on your roses.

Varieties of roses that will be used are the Grand Gala, First Red, Upper Class and Happy Hour. These custom-lettered roses can be bought at the International Flower Auction Bangalore Ltd (IFAB) near the Hebbal Flyover.

The normal long stemmed rose, decorated with assorted foliage would be available anywhere between Rs 15 and Rs 20, while digital printed roses would cost between Rs 25 and Rs 50, and can also be ordered in bulk quantities. These roses will be sold at the outlet on February 13 and 14 between 9 am and 6 pm.

"Roses are exchanged as a symbol of love and affection, and for the first time we are introducing this concept to promote flower growers and to encourage entrepreneurship in the trade," said G K Vasanth Kumar, additional secretary, Food Processing and Harvesting Technology, GOK and MD, IFAB.

50 lakh Roses exported for V-day
2 lakh Roses hit Bangalore market each day