Dental Magic In “The Hangover” Using Implants

There were many great characters and lines in 2009’s “The Hangover”. For those in the dental industry Stu (played by Ed Helms) was an instant favorite. Stu is the responsible, uptight, worried member of the Wolfpack. He is a dentist and really doesn’t drink that much. One night, while in Vegas for a bachelor party he really lets loose. When he is drunk, he pulled out his own tooth to win a bet against Alan. Alan had bet Stu that he wasn’t a good enough dentist to pull out his own tooth.

Stu wakes up the next morning, horrified to find his front tooth was missing. One of our favorite lines ensued when Stu yelled out, “I look like a nerdy hillbilly”. The first thought of many in the dental field was “how did Hollywood do that”?

It turns out that in real life Stu (Ed Helms) is missing his front tooth and had it replaced with a dental implant. Apparently the tooth had been missing since childhood. At the age of 15 had it replaced with an implant, which has been in his mouth for more than 20 years. Ed had his dentist unscrew the crown that was attached to his implant so they could film the movie. When they were done filming the dentist screwed the crown and abutment back on the implant.

Crown, Implant, Screw, Abutment…What are all these fancy dental words you speak of? The picture below illustrates the components of a dental implant and how it will match up with your natural tooth.

When a tooth is lost the jawbone beneath it shrinks from lack of stimulation. Not only does losing teeth affect your smile, it also changes the shape of your face as the bone shrinks.

Dental implants are the new standard of care for tooth replacement. They bond with healthy bone and provide permanent support for dental crowns and dentures. Dental implants look and feel like natural teeth and can last a lifetime. Best of all, a missing tooth can be replaced by a dental implant without altering the healthy adjacent teeth.

Our practice proudly uses BioHorizons dental implants. Their implants are lightweight, durable, biocompatible and made of titanium. The science behind BioHorizon implants is so solid that they offer a lifetime manufacturer’s warranty. BioHorizons has been awarded over 24 unique patents and is in 85 markets throughout North America, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

That is probably more than you ever wanted to know about implants, but hopefully you thought it was neat to learn how Hollywood made Stu’s missing tooth look so realistic.