Reflecting on 3 Years of FangSmith
Updated: Jul 5, 2021
Have you ever dreamt of being a vampire? When I was a little girl I dreamt of very little else at all. Throughout my life the books I read, films I watched, songs I listened to; all of them were saturated in fangs and blood. It was lucky chance that I happened to marry an ultra-creative dental technician who was well versed in the art of making dentures and crowns for teeth! After tossing the idea of FangSmith around for many, many years we finally started saving money and laying serious plans and dreams to become a reality. We bought the equipment, met with dental material company reps, remodelled a room in the house, learnt business skills..and then there was figuring out how to make the fangs themselves.
At that time there were no tutorials or videos online that showed exactly how acrylic fang caps were made. We found a very short video of a newscast from the 1990's that showed Dnash making fangs for a news anchor, this sort of gave us some understanding of how fangs were made in person. It took months of trials to develop our own technique with much importance on the articulation of the fangs & comfort in mouth, their aesthetic shape and clarity of speech. Still with every set made we improve, constantly developing technique through close feedback and upgrading to the latest dental technology and materials.
We're very fussy you see, we have to be to create the fangs we envision. If we craft you fangs and they don’t sit right or they get dropped and develop a crack or break we will always adjust and repair them for you so you can continue living your fanged and fabulous life. Because your vampire dream is our vampire dream too. Our razor sharp raison d'etre.
In the three years..that we’ve been operating we’ve learned and grown so much as people. Jarrad has gained the confidence to start a dental lab out of FangSmith, servicing local dentists and their patients. I (Megan) have fallen in love with photography and graphic design and now create designs for sites like Society6. I’m still quite shy if randomly asked what I do for work, in the everyday world it’s a fun but awkward conversation that sometimes leads to surprising connections! In the nightlife though..ah; surrounded by the nightlife our freaky little business creates a dark thrum of glowing intrigue.
We’ve both developed.. so many new friendships and connections in the alternative and fetish communities. Every time we visit an event we find ourselves surrounded by more and more fanged faces, it makes my black little heart swell. Our fangs seem to change something in people, something that usually calls them to each other. I keep hearing the word ‘coven’ tossed around and have been asked if we’ll be starting a vampire court or a clan. I feel like eventually this would be the natural evolution; to create a supportive community of like-minded people with whom we can frolic through the night arm in arm. Special shoutout to The Church of Belligerence for bringing us out of the coffin & into the nightlife 🖤
With love & battys, -Megan & Jarrad Smith
