Shane MacGowan Shows Off His New Teeth In New Christmas TV Special

Shane MacGowan has a new set of teeth after nearly 20 years. The dental procedure was the subject of a new television special, called Shane McGowan: A Wreck Reborn, that aired on British television on Sunday night, according to the Independent.

MacGowan is the lead singers of The Pogues, and he has been missing his teeth for years. His last two front teeth fell out in 2008. The following year, the singer had dentures made, but he did not use them because he called them a “botch” job. He said he could not “abide them.”

It was two years ago that his girlfriend, Victoria Clarke, went to social media with a plea. She wanted someone to help Shane with his teeth because he had dreams of Hollywood in his head. He might want to follow in the footsteps of his friend Johnny Depp. The actor was one of Macgowan’s friends interviewed for the British television special.

There were some special concerns connected to the dental procedure though. Fixing his teeth might cause a change to his distinctive voice. Since the last two teeth fell out of his mouth in 2008, he has had a distinct lisp.

Dr. Darragh Mulrooney is the dentist that performed the feat that he called the “Everest of dentistry” in an interview with the Independent. It took him and a team nine hours to perform the procedure.

He spoke about the procedure after it was done.

“Shane recorded most of his great works when he had some teeth to work with. The question on everyone’s lips is how it will affect his voice. The tongue is a finely attuned muscle and it makes precise movements. We’ve effectively retuned his instrument and that will be an ongoing process.”

The procedure has definitely changed MacGowan’s life. The simple act of being able to eat a piece of fruit is something that shows that clearly. Dr. Mulrooney said that, “There was a moving moment when someone gave Shane an apple to eat … something he hadn’t done in 20 years. The simple things in life are sometimes the most important.”

However, Macgowan almost did not have the work performed on his teeth. Shane MacGowan was “dreading it.” It was a scary experience for him, but he knew the work had to be done. He shared about his childhood during the special, according to Sky News.

“Everybody was scared of the dentist in those days. When I was very small I had teeth taken out by a string round the tooth and then put on the door handle there. They wouldn’t tell you what they were going to do, they would just bang the door and out came the tooth.”

Fans of the singer were able to see the dentist’s work on his mouth for the first time last month. The singer attended a party held by U2 in Dublin last month. The Daily Mail showed off the singer and commented on his new teeth when sharing a photo of the singer outside the party. The photo was first shared by Victoria Clarke on her Twitter.

#shanemacgowan showing off the gold tooth at the U2 party pic.twitter.com/auNeO4Z0DM

— Victoria Mary Clarke (@Victoriamary) November 25, 2015

MacGowan did have one request when the work was performed on his teeth. He wanted a gold tooth added in, and Clarke’s photo share was to show that off. Since then, she has posted other photos of MacGowan on her Twitter that show off his new toothy grin.

Shane beat me at chess1 pic.twitter.com/JLH8UKQsG0

— Victoria Mary Clarke (@Victoriamary) December 7, 2015

Macgowan is not the first celebrity to undergo dental work to fix their smile. According to a report from the Huffington Post, several other celebrities have visited a dentist to fix their teeth, including Cheryl Cole, Tulisa, Katie Price and Chantelle Houghton.

There is one celebrity who is not rushing to the dentist though. Katy Perry spoke about her decision to not get braces to fix her lower teeth in an interview with InStyle Magazine just last month. According to Yahoo News, she called her lower teeth the “bane of my beauty existence.” However, she will not have work done to fix the issue because she “never had braces and it’s hard as an adult to commit to them.”

Maybe one day she will change her mind. MacGowan certainly seems happier with his new teeth. The new teeth were not only an early Christmas gift, but it is also his birthday on Christmas Day.

What do you think about his procedure being highlighted on British television? Are you a fan of him and The Pogues?

[Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images]