The tooth and nothing but the tooth: South Dakota Gov. Noem posts ad for out-of-state dentist

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem unleashed a five-minute infomercial across her social media platforms, thanking her dentist for “fixing my smile for me.”

Her Texas dentist.

“Well hi, I’m Kristi Noem,” the elected governor of an entire United State greeted the camera, smiling wide to reveal blinding white veneers. “I’m the governor of South Dakota and had the opportunity to come in to Smile Texas to fix my teeth.”

It was the oddest ad to come out of South Dakota since the state’s “Meth: We’re On It” campaign of 2019.

Noem went on to explain that she “knocked out all my front teeth” years ago in a bike accident when her children were small. Years later, she was looking for a dentist to tweak the earlier work.

The South Dakota Dental Association has a helpful “find a dentist” feature right on its homepage. Why did the governor of South Dakota get work done a thousand miles from home?

“They’re the best, first of all,” Noem said. Ouch.

The bizarre infomercial raised eyebrows and fueled speculation about whether the governor made the video in exchange for free dental work.

Noem, like almost every high-profile Republican woman, has been mentioned as a potential running mate for Donald Trump this year. The former president has a long history of insulting and demeaning women’s looks, to say nothing of the multiple rape and sexual abuse allegations or the jury that found him liable for sexual abuse.

In politics, Noem said at one point in the ad, “everything is speaking and interviews and giving speeches. ... For me, being able to have a confident smile and have my teeth be something that’s not a distraction but actually be appealing to people will be helpful.”

The teeth in the video’s “before” pictures looked perfectly fine, but Noem said she cried with joy when she saw the finished product.