I Vant to Suck Your Blood (Before My Teeth Fall Out)

Goths are a cultural subgenre of people who listen to dark and moody "Gothic" music. They tend to wear black clothing, dark lipstick and heavy eyeliner on pale-powdered skin.

Their fascination with the otherworldly (and underworld-ly) includes, but is not limited to, vampires.

Apparently, increasing numbers of German goths have taken to either filing down their canine teeth or adding on pointy extensions in a bid to make themselves look like fashionable denizens of a bloodthirsty netherworld.

German dentists are not amused -- and neither are insurers.

Goths like their skin light, their makeup dark

One insurer in the northern German town of Muenster has issued a warning against the fad. The faux-pointy canines do pose a danger -- but not to any bite victims, says the KKH insurance company.

Filed teeth lack their natural enamel and are susceptible to cavities or to breaking off at the tip, the insurer said.

Another variation, in which a pointy crown is added to the canines, could weaken the other teeth and make chewing painful and tiring, said KKH expert Uwe Starck.

He said health problems caused by the vanity fad were not covered by health insurance.

"We don't know of dentists doing the alterations," said KKH official Uljana Klein. "It tends to be done by tattoists and the like."