Kanye West has installed $850,000 titanium teeth implants in a new look he compared to the James Bond villain Jaws.
The rapper posted a photo to his Instagram account with his mouth wide open to show off his new metallic dentures to fans.
A source close to the rapper said it was “quite unlike anything that has been done before”.
“The technical term is fixed prosthodontics. They are fixed and permanent. This goes way beyond veneers or grills,” they told the Washington Post.
“It’s experimental dentistry to say the least,” they added.
“All that said, his teeth weren’t removed.”
Initial reports had suggested that West, who now goes by Ye, had removed all of his teeth and replaced them with metal ones.
West personally designed the denture-like structure with a team of cosmetic surgeons and dentists, the source said.
Thomas Connelly, the dentist who carried out the procedure, said the denture-like structure was modelled to fit West’s teeth.
Mr Connelly told the Daily Mail: “Ye was a pleasure to work with every step of the process.
“His vision for designing unique art transcends the dental progression. The marriage of his vision with dental science has created a new look that is epic!”
It is not the first time that West has altered the design of his dentures.
In 2010, the rapper told Ellen DeGeneres that he had replaced his bottom row of teeth with gold implants and diamonds. “It’s really my real teeth,” he insisted, adding, “I just thought the diamonds were cooler”.
It comes ahead of the release of his new album “Vultures”.
In October 2002, West was in a near-fatal car accident which meant he had to have his mouth wired shut as part of facial reconstruction surgery. Just two weeks after his accident, with his jaw still wired shut, he recorded his debut single Through the Wire.
Last year, the 46-year-old sparked outrage after posting a slew of remarks about Jews on social media that led to him being dropped by sponsors and suspended from X, formerly known as Twitter.
He issued an apology in Hebrew to “the Jewish community” for past anti-Semitic outbursts, saying he sought forgiveness and regretted any pain that his remarks had caused.
