Tooth and Nails

Sitting close to the stage, Sandy Riedle watched closely as the Huntington Beach blues guitarist effortlessly slid his fingers across the frets of his Dobro steel-body guitar.

Then she looked at his face and saw them: long white fangs that would make Bela Lugosi proud.

Musician Eric Sardinas, 25, has had his eyeteeth cosmetically lengthened. And while he insists it isn’t a vampire thing, there’s no mistaking the effect.

“I get different kinds of reaction,” Sardinas said. “Sometimes people will stare at them and say nothing. Sometimes they’ll ask me what those things in my mouth are. Or they’ll say the teeth really look cool.”

Riedle said that after she got passed the shock of seeing the fangs, “I thought they were erotic. They make your imagination run wild and they make you wonder what those teeth could possibly sink into. It’s bittersweet.”

But, Riedle conceded, elongated canines aren’t for everyone.

“[Sardinas] is a very attractive guy. And the teeth work great with his looks. But I couldn’t picture them on Chris Farley or President Clinton. Nope, that would not be cool,” Riedle said.

At Ipso Facto, a club clothing store in Fullerton, store owner Terri Kennedy said fangs are for people who just want to have fun.

Who are these people?

Most are fans of the Gothic scene, a subculture that celebrates a dark atmosphere and sensuality through music, fashion, literature and art. Such works as Anne Rice novels and films such as “The Crow” represent the gothic mentality. Kennedy said friends of hers were married in a cemetery--both the bride and groom sported fangs.

“It’s really tongue in cheek,” Kennedy insisted. “There’s nothing sinister about it. Just people saying, ‘Hey, look at me.’ Believe me, there’s not some weird vampire cult happening here or people biting each other. It’s just individuals being whimsical.”

At the Vampiricus Club in downtown Long Beach, Blade, who operates the Mondays-only club and goes by only one name, said a man “who’s qualified in the procedure” makes and fits fangs on the premises.

“His name is the Lord of the Fangs,” Blade said. “He takes dental acrylic and molds and sands them to whatever [length] the person wants.”

Theodore Urbanski, a Tustin dentist, said that in 26 years, he’s had two requests for extended cuspids.

“It’s a lot of work involved with laboratory fees and can run from anywhere from $300 to $500, depending on what the person wants,” he said.

Urbanski makes impressions of the upper and lower mouth, then attaches the longer teeth to an acrylic mold that fits the palate.

“It’s removable and can be used over and over with dental adhesive,” he said.

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For those who want permanent Draculan biters, a porcelain veneer is created and attached to the canine teeth.

“That’s more expensive. I would be hesitant about this because it would pose some problems for the mouth,” Urbanski said. “Like eating, for one.”

The sacrifice Sardinas has made for his permanent extended teeth? He can’t move his jaw laterally. “It was difficult at first, but I got used to it,” he said.

Is it worth it? He said when he smiles and the ends of his eyeteeth are exposed, it creates excitement.

“Let’s just say there are some women who are inquisitive about the teeth. But then again, it’s like I can open a door for an old lady, and she’ll say, ‘Thank you, sonny.’ Then another will run away screaming. Everybody looks at them differently.”

Carla Stanfield of San Diego owns slip-on pointed teeth. She wears them when she goes out. But only when she’s in the mood.

“The people I hang out with are into this sort of thing,” Stanfield said. “But it’s not like we sit around and wait to scare people. It’s fun. Especially when you walk into a 7-Eleven or someplace like that. The guy behind the counter will look at you really strange. And you can see that he doesn’t know what to say.”

Stanfield said a friend, who is a dental assistant, gave her fangs for $100.

“He’s done it for a couple of my friends,” Stanfield said.

When Sardinas got his fangs two years ago, it was on the heels of the vampire movies “Interview With the Vampire” and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”

He says that although he’s well acquainted with the vampire legend, his getting the fangs had nothing to do with the Hollywood influence. “It was for kicks and sort of a mockery of the two snake tattoos I have,” Sardinas said.

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As for his bandmates, Paul Lorange and Scott Palacious, Sardinas said they really had no problems when he had his teeth fixed.

“It takes a lot to shock these guys,” Sardinas said. “I could probably light myself on fire and they would say, ‘That’s cool.’ ”

But Sardinas doesn’t want to defined by his pointed pearly whites.

“The last thing I want is to have people come down and see the band because of my teeth,” he said.