Top models need some space (between their teeth)

Does Tyra Banks know this? Models with gap-toothed grins are in -- that's what the Wall Street Journal (arbiter of all things hip) is reporting. The diastema, according to the newspaper, is one of the most sought-after physical features at this year's fashion week in New York. A gap-toothed smile can be "fixed" with braces, dental bonding or even porcelain veneers. Of course, that's only necessary if you consider it a flaw. A handful of celebrities sport gappy grins, like Madonna, Elton John and "True Blood's" Anna Paquin. And it's said that all the hottest ladies in the 14th century had gaps between their two front teeth; it was considered was a symbol of lustfulness, and the fictional poster lady for it is Geoffrey Chaucer's "gap-toothed wife of Bath" in "The Canterbury Tales." As turns out, those kids with their gapped teeth from tongue piercings may have been onto something. Find The Body Odd on Twitter and on Facebook.