Mark Consuelos may flash a TV-perfect pearly-white smile, but appearances can be deceiving – especially when it comes to his canines. During the February 4 episode of LIVE with Kelly & Mark, the host revealed that he's had a missing tooth for almost five decades.
The star lost his gnasher after he smashed his face into an obstacle course in the fourth grade – an incident he described as "very traumatic". "There was a certain time that I had to have an implant – because it was just done – I had enough trauma," he shared, adding that he had to put a cap on it for several years.
Mark's missing tooth has caused its fair share of problems throughout the years as the host recounted a particularly embarrassing instance where he boarded a plane from New York City to Vancouver to film an episode of the drama series Riverdale. "I had the flipper," he said, in reference to the sheath used in the mouth that impacted his speech.
© ABC"As we’re taking off, it pops out. I’ve got to be on this flight for the next five and a half hours and make it through without swallowing it and keeping it in there. Luckily I had my flipper with me, but I didn’t tell anybody else." Mark admitted that he was able to make it through "just one day of work" without anyone noticing his missing tooth.
Kelly Ripa then poked fun at her husband, explaining that despite his "dazzling smile," if "you take away that front tooth, I was like, oh... so it really was in sickness and in health, but they didn’t say anything about dental health!"
However, it appears Mark doesn’t let his missing tooth hold him back from going out. "I went toothless to this restaurant. I didn’t care. I looked funny!" he said. "He loves popping the tooth out to shock people. He becomes a different person entirely. It’s wild," added Kelly.
© Disney via Getty ImagesMark isn't the only one in the family to struggle with dental problems. His wife, Kelly, also suffers with jaw tension and grinds her teeth at night. During an episode of the show in June last year, Mark teased his wife over her amusing appearance when she turns the lights out. "You have so many things going on in your mouth," he said. "You’ve got your retainer, you’ve got the little band, the thing …. Do you have upper and lower retainers?"
The blonde beauty then admitted that the retainer was given to her by her dentist. "I was a tooth grinder," she shared. "Got Botox in my jaw because my dentist recommended it and it’s changed my life. It’s changed my life."
© Getty ImagesShe continued: "I was a real teeth clencher. I clench my teeth because I don’t want what I’m thinking to come spilling out of my mouth."
Mark offered the audience some insight into the condition and shared that tooth grinding "can cause tooth wear. You grind your teeth down. It gives you jaw pain, muscle pain".
