What actually happens
The Promise meets a swimming hole
As children, Dawn and her stepbrother Brad play in the backyard pool, and Dawn bites his finger and leaves a permanent scar. Years later she is a teenage spokesperson for The Promise, a Christian abstinence group. Brad has a girlfriend, Melanie, and Dawn overhears them arguing about what Brad will and will not do with her. At a group meeting Dawn meets Tobey, and she, Tobey and her friends Gwen and Phil begin spending time together. Dawn and Tobey like each other and agree not to be alone together, an agreement that does not last. They meet at a swimming hole and end up kissing in a cave. Dawn gets uncomfortable and wants to leave, but Tobey turns aggressive and shakes her and smacks her head on the ground when she pushes him away. When he tries to rape her, her body cuts him, and he bleeds and falls into the water, where he dies. Dawn runs.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
The appointment with Dr. Godfrey
Dawn goes to a dance after a Promise meeting and meets her classmate Ryan, who takes her home and asks her out. She says no. Later she returns to the swimming hole and finds a crab crawling over Tobey's severed penis. She throws her purity ring off a cliff and researches vagina dentata, a legend about toothed vaginas, and begins to think it applies to her. She then visits a gynecologist, Dr. Godfrey, who assaults her during the exam by reaching inside her without a glove. Four fingers on his right hand are lost to her bite, and she panics. This is the scene people warn each other about, and it happens in the middle of the movie. On the way home she sees police cars and a car that resembles Tobey's, and later she watches the police bring his body up from the pool. At home she finds her mother, Kim, collapsed and unresponsive, while Brad and Melanie have sex in his room. Kim goes to the hospital.
Ryan places a bet
A hysterical Dawn goes to Ryan for help. He gives her a sedative and uses a vibrator on her. She is afraid of hurting him, but she discovers that her body stays calm as long as she is relaxed and consenting. The next morning they have sex again. During it, a friend of Ryan's calls, and Ryan smugly admits that he bet the friend he could talk Dawn into sex. Dawn is furious, her body bites off his penis, and she leaves while he screams.
Brad's dog gets a snack
At home, Dawn's stepfather Bill tries to throw Brad out, and Brad sets his pet Rottweiler on him and says he loves Dawn. At the hospital Dawn meets Bill and Melanie after her mother has died. Melanie tells her that Brad told her to ignore Kim's cries for help. Seeing her injured stepfather and hearing this, Dawn feels newly powerful and goes home for revenge. She does her make-up and heads to Brad's room to seduce him. During sex, Brad remembers the pool and finally understands that Dawn's mouth never bit him. Then her body bites off his penis. Dawn drops it on the floor, and Brad calls the dog to attack her, but the dog eats the penis and spits out the piercing instead. Dawn leaves while Brad begs her to stay.
The ending, explained
Dawn leaves home by bicycle after her mother's death and after leaving Brad badly hurt. The tire is punctured, so she hitchhikes and accepts a ride from an old man. She dozes off and wakes up at night in front of a convenience store. As she reaches for the door, he keeps locking it and licks his lips. Dawn hesitates, then turns to him with a mischievous smile, and the movie ends there.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Teeth scary?
Barely. Teeth is a 2 out of 10 with low dread, minimal jump scares and a lot of body horror. The unpleasant parts are the gynecologist scene and the cave scene.
How does Teeth end?
Dawn leaves home after her mother dies and after Brad is hurt. She hitches a ride with an old man who locks the doors on her, and she turns to him with a mischievous smile.
Does the dog die in Teeth?
No dog dies in Teeth. Brad's pet Rottweiler is sent to attack Dawn and instead eats what she drops on the floor.
Is there a post-credits scene in Teeth?
No. Teeth has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
What is vagina dentata in Teeth?
It is a myth about a vagina with teeth. In Teeth, Dawn looks it up after Tobey's death and decides it may describe her body. She later finds that her body does not bite when she is relaxed and consenting.
