The Number-One Turn-Off For Online Daters? Bad Teeth

...and topless pics.
helovi via Getty Images

Would you date someone with a missing tooth or a wonky smile? Singletons looking for love online say they wouldn't, as their number-one turn-off is bad teeth.

This is according to recent research by U.K. internet service provider Plusnet, which looked at relationship upsets from 2,000 people looking for potentials on dating websites and apps.

In fact, dating website Plenty of Fish has a thread dedicated just to teeth, with commenters writing that they wished they'd known their date was missing teeth beforehand, or that they're confused as to why someone wouldn't fix the problem before going on a dating spree.

One woman writes: "LMAO... well I went out with this guy, great guy. Nice, romantic, hilarious, we clicked really well. Anyway, on our first date, I found that behind this so-far 'perfect click,' the only flaw I had was with his mouth – but I just couldn't put my finger on it... Flapping his lips, I noticed they flapped a little too much and then, boom, I saw it, the flaw, the end to my obsession when all I saw was gums!... He had no upper teeth!!! I immediately called it out and asked him 'do you have teeth'?"

A social experiment in 2016 also showed that bad teeth were a dealbreaker — singletons with "perfect teeth" received 60 percent more messages than their gap-toothed counterparts.

"We knew teeth mattered to the dating world, but we didn't realise by how much until now," commented researcher Dr Bruno Silva.

Other online turn-offs by Plusnet respondents were cheesy bio lines on dating apps, especially the same ones that kept popping up.

Surprisingly, topless pics were also not doing it for some people, with 47 percent of respondents saying it put them off completely.

shirtless fatso having a drink outside her backyard
shirtless fatso having a drink outside her backyard
Juanmonino via Getty Images

And while you'd think that with the growing number of people signing on apps, people wouldn't care where they found love — 23 percent are still embarrassed to say they found love online.

Close

What's Hot