If you have ever lost a tooth, a dentist likely recommended that you replace it with a dental implant, a false tooth that is installed into the jaw and functions just like the one you lost. While this procedure can be expensive, dentists say this method is better for your oral health than other solutions, like dentures.
Moreover, if you follow the lead of a few Argentinian rugby veterans, your dental implant can do more than just replace your missing tooth. In one of the most unusual promotions of all time, a Latin American beer company paid for the players to replace their missing teeth with implants that double as bottle openers.
Salta Beer is the official sponsor of the Rugby Union of Argentina. Given the sport’s reputation for causing lasting physical damage, the advertising company Ogilvy and Mather Argentina suggested a procedure that would combine their client’s product with one of rugby’s most common injuries. The result is a graphic commercial that follows three rugby vets who lost teeth playing the sport–Johnathan Batiga, Pablo Kwiczor and Uriel Santiago–as they have specially-designed bottle openers permanently installed in their jaws.
The interesting contraption was created by Dr. Sebastian Juri, a dental surgeon who described the invention as adding “new functionality” to the premolars. In the commercial, Juri first creates the foundations of the implant for Batiga, Kwiczor and Santiago, who report losing teeth to stray kicks, mauling rucks and other common incidents. Then, two months later, the men return to Juri, who installs the silver, Salta-branded implants in their jaws. The commercial then ends as most do, with the men sitting back to enjoy their Salta beer. However, unlike most actors, these men are able to easily open their beers with a quick bite, a movement that seems surprisingly easy and painless.
The advertising campaign has been almost universally described as strange, but it appears to be working. Countless websites have covered the story, and the commercial has over 500,000 views on YouTube. However, it remains unclear how well the bottle openers, now permanently installed in the players’ mouths, will function over time. While it might make for a good party trick or save you from rummaging for a bottle opener at the end of the day, it remains to be seen how the players will be able to eat and clean their teeth with this strange new tooth-tool hybrid in their mouths.