What Really Happened To Tom Cruise's Teeth?

When Tom Cruise emerged in Hollywood in the '80s, he quickly became not only one of the industry's most prominent leading men but also one of the decade's most recognizable sex symbols. Apparently, Cruise took that status very seriously. Even before breaking through with 1983's "Risky Business," Cruise had always been rather conscious of how he looked in front of the camera, his old agent Eileen Berlin told the Daily Mail in February 2022. "Tommy had many faces — you see it in the photos," the retired executive said.

According to Berlin, with whom Cruise lived when he was starting out at 18, Cruise relentlessly prepared before photo sessions, in an effort to emphasize what he considered to be his strongest features. "We had a mirrored wall and he'd walk around in his little jockey shorts and nothing else and ball up his fists and flex his biceps and admire himself in the mirror," she described. While he knew he was handsome, Cruise was self-conscious about his height. "He said he would like some shoes that would lift him up a bit," she said.

Cruise has reportedly gone to great lengths to conceal his 5 foot, 7 inch stature, often making producers apply different techniques to make him appear as tall as his co-stars, according to Refinery29. In light of Cruise's perceived vanity, rumors about plastic surgery and other corrective procedures has followed him throughout his career. That even includes Cruise's smile, with many contending his grin has changed over the years.

Tom Cruise's smile was a big part of the boyish charm that made him so popular in the '80s and '90s. But his wasn't what most would call a perfect smile. As seen in the photo above, Cruise's front teeth aren't aligned with the center of his face, giving the impression Cruise has a "mono-tooth," as Metro described. "The mid point between his two central upper teeth (the dental midline) did not match the midline of his face, giving him the appearance of a single prominent front tooth," said Dr. Asif Chatoo of The London Lingual Orthodontic Clinic.

Some believe the trait was less pronounced in his early career, leading experts to conjecture that Cruise has undergone upper jaw surgery, Showbiz Cheat Sheet noted. Additionally, the perceived changes in color and texture of Cruise's teeth has given way to theories he has used porcelain veneers, according to Life & Style magazine. Others have also suggested he has whitened his teeth, but, honestly, who in showbiz hasn't? It was Hollywood that popularized the practice to begin with, U.K. clinic St. Peter's Lodge noted.

But, just as Cruise has never addressed his supposed insecurity about his height, he also doesn't really comment on his smile. The only concrete evidence we have of anything he's done comes from the 2002 "Minority Report" premiere, where he was photographed wearing braces that he got to help correct an overbite. "My mouth wasn't closing properly," he said (via Time).

Tom Cruise's looks drew unwanted public attention in October 2021 when he attended a baseball game, Page Six reported. The "Mission Impossible" star's face looked swollen, leading many to wonder whether Cruise had had cosmetics procedures done or gained weight. Social media users took to Twitter to mock his appearance, drawing comparisons to Norm MacDonald, who had recently died. "Norm macdonald being reincarnated into tom cruise is one of his best bits ever," one wrote.

However, many others defended Cruise while criticizing the normalization of online body-shaming. "I had hoped people learnt to not comment on men's bodies after mocking Zac Efron for gaining weight and supposedly being 'ugly,' despite knowing his history of eating disorders, addiction and body image struggles," one user tweeted. "Leave Tom Cruise and his face alone. People are allowed to change."

But because Cruise had been spotted over the summer with his so-called normal face and it seemingly returned to what fans were used to shortly after, experts hypothesized the swelling could've been caused by cosmetics treatments. "Tom definitely looks swollen and puffy, which could be due to filler, post procedure swelling or weight gain," a practitioner told The U.S. Sun. Some social media users had an issue with this type of coverage, which seemed to disregard the possibility Cruise's swelling could be due to medical reasons. "He looks like he's on prednisone to me," a Twitter user pointed out, referring to the commonly prescribed corticosteroid.