Among the Ba’Aka, men and women sharpen their upper teeth to points. They usually do this around the age of nine or ten, using a stone or a machete, according to journalist Paula Froelich, who accompanied members of this hunter-gatherer community on a hunting trip near Dzanga-Sangha National Park in the Central African Republic.
Christion Bangala, a guide and interpreter quoted by Froelich, linked the pointed shape to beauty and resistance to pain.
He also linked it to traditional expectations around marriage and said the pointed teeth would help with biting meat.
Thus, a single body modification brings together an idea of beauty and a practical use related to eating.