Sweet Teeth Review

Sweet Teeth (世界微尘里) is a short mainland rom-com with only 22 episodes in total. So, you should be able to breeze through it rather quickly. While it has nothing new to offer, the drama emits a warm feeling as it progresses. I chose to watch it because the rating seems rather high on certain sites for what appears to be a typical rom-com. What do I think of it? Well, let me share my thoughts in my Sweet Teeth review below.

My rating: 7/10
Episodes: 22
Type: Romance
Aired: August 2021
Images Credit: iQIYI

The Cast Of Sweet Teeth

• Betty Wu Xuan Yi as Zeng Li
• Bi Wen Jun as Dr. Ai Jing Chu
• Zhai Xiao Wen as Liu Yu Cheng
• Baby Zhang Bo Jia as Wu Ying
• Terry Liu Te as Deng Hao Ran
• Wan Zi Lin as Ma Yi Yi
• Yalkun Merxat as Yu Yi
• Natalia Zhong Yi as Wu Wan Xia
• Chen Yi Jing as Zeng Li’s mother
• William Li Jun Wei as Dr. Jiang Rui

Main Characters

Zeng Li

Zeng Li is a 26-year-old librarian at Donghu University. She also runs a cafe nearby with 2 good friends. Zeng Li is not particularly ambitious as she prefers an uncomplicated life. She is cheerful and optimistic. She loves books and writes romance novels in her spare time.

Dr. Ai Jing Chu

Dr. Ai is a dentist and part time lecturer at Donghu University. He is not only good-looking but also a skillful dentist. Hence, Dr. Ai has a lot of female admirers. However, he is a very reserved person who doesn’t like socializing. He also leads a very disciplined and monotonous life.

Supporting Characters

Liu Yu Cheng

Yu Cheng is a 21-year-old Malaysian student at Donghu University. He has just arrived in the city to take up a degree in Chinese Medicine. Yu Cheng is a very enthusiastic young man who is not afraid to express his feelings. He is good in gaming and has a deep crush on Wu Ying.

Wu Ying

Wu Ying is an emergency ward doctor. She is tomboyish and has no interest in love and romance. She is married to her job and leads an unhealthy lifestyle. Wu Ying is the part owner of a cafe together with her good friends, Zeng Li and Yi Yi. She is also an avid gamer during her free time.

Deng Hao Ran

Hao Ran is a playboy and doesn’t take relationships seriously. He is a freelance app developer and entrepreneur. Hao Ran is Zeng Li’s elder brother although they have no blood ties. His father and her mother were married at one point before divorcing. Hao Ran is also Yi Yi’s ex-boyfriend.

Ma Yi Yi

Yi Yi is a live streamer and part cafe owner. Her good friends are Zeng Li and Wu Ying. She has been in and out of relationships and is always looking for a good catch. She is open-minded when it comes to men but can be whiny. Yi Yi is also always bickering with Hao Ran.

Yu Yi

Yu Yi is Zeng Li’s tutor back in high school. Their families know each other as they are distant relatives. Yu Yi has a soft spot for Zeng Li and helped her through her darkest moments during her high school years when her parents divorced. He then left to further his studies abroad. Yu Yi and Dr. Ai are good friends from their university days.

Wu Wan Xia

Wan Xia is Zeng Li’s colleague at the library. She is married but thinks Dr. Ai is handsome and is always trying to pair Zeng Li up with him.

Zeng Li’s Mother

Zeng Li’s mother has remarried 3 times and Hao Ran’s father was her second husband. She is an anxious mother who worries about her daughter’s lack of love life.

Dr. Jiang Rui

Dr. Jiang is Wu Ying’s colleague and is interested to be her marriage partner. He sees himself as the most suitable candidate that Wu Ying shouldn’t refuse.

Synopsis

Dr. Ai is a popular lecturer at Donghu University due to his good looks. He first met Zeng Li at the university library where she works. But they started off having a bad impression of each other due to some petty misunderstandings.

Zeng Li is 26 years old and has never had a boyfriend. Her mother thinks it must be her imperfect teeth alignment which is causing her to lack suitors. So, she drags Zeng Li to the hospital to see a dentist. Zeng Li refuses to register as Dr. Ai’s patient but still ends up being one when the dentist attending to her fouls up. After getting to know each other better over a series of events, Zeng Li and Dr. Ai begin to develop feelings for each other.

However, both of them are inexperienced when it comes to dating. Dr. Ai is shy and reserved and finds it hard to express his love for Zeng Li. As they try to guess each other’s intentions, Zeng Li’s crush from her high school days returns home with the hope of starting a relationship with her. Her crush is Yu Yi who happens to be Dr. Ai’s good friend from university.

Sweet Teeth Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

As the name implies, this drama is supposed to be sweet. Thus, viewers would naturally be treated to a happy ending. The last scene is a proposal scene. Dr. Ai proposes to Zeng Li after returning home from volunteer work in Africa. He has been away for 6 months and plans to surprise Zeng Li at the library. He hides the ring in the romance novel that Zeng Li has written that is based on their love story. She says yes to bring the rom-com to a close.

Wu Ying And Yu Cheng

There is also a wedding scene for Wu Ying and Yu Cheng in the last episode. She is pregnant and has decided not to abort the baby in contrast to what she had wanted to do earlier. Wu Ying didn’t want to tie Yu Cheng down with the baby and make him grow up when he is only 21 years old and 6 years younger than her. She had a big quarrel with him when he disagreed with the abortion. However, she changed her mind later on when she realized how much he loves her when he was willing to back down to support her decision.

Yi Yi And Hao Ran

Yi Yi and Hao Ran also got back together in Episode 21. They have never really gotten over each other after splitting up in university. Hao Ran realizes he needs to give Yi Yi a sense of security. With trust between them, Yi Yi also doesn’t feel she needs to tie her man down with marriage and a certificate.

When Did The Couples Get Together?

Zeng Li and Dr. Ai got together in Episode 17. He confessed his love for her in his own unique way in Episode 18. As for Yu Yi, Zeng Li She cleared the air with him in Episode 16 whereby she admitted that she likes Dr. Ai. Yu Yi accepted her decision and wished them well. He then left for a posting in a different city.

Wu Ying and Yu Cheng became a couple in Episode 16 after spending a night together. She finally accepted Yu Cheng after trying to deny her growing feelings for him all along.

Yi Yi and Hao Ran started flirting with each other again in Episode 16 when he impulsively kissed her. They officially reconciled in Episode 21.

Is There Any Breakup?

No, there isn’t any breakup once the couples got together. But there are quarrels towards the end which got resolved pretty quickly. Wu Ying and Yu Cheng have a big disagreement in Episode 20 when she kept her pregnancy from him and then over her decision to abort their baby. They looked like they are heading for a breakup but they still love each other too much to let go.

Zeng Li and Dr. Ai also quarreled over the issue. Dr. Ai told Yu Cheng about Wu Ying’s pregnancy when it was supposed to be a secret between the girlfriends. But they patched things up after Zeng Li got drunk over it and Dr. Ai brought her home.

Sweet Teeth Review – There’s Warmth But Nothing New!

Sweet Teeth really has nothing new to offer viewers. If you have watched enough of Chinese rom-coms, this is simply one among many. It is certainly not a rare gem like You Are My Glory which tends to surface only once in a long while when it comes to simple romance dramas. However, it is not bad overall and I think its short length works to its advantage. This means the story moves along at a good pace and it doesn’t get dragged out unnecessarily on any particular issue.

Furthermore, there are 2 side couples in this drama and they get quite a lot of screen time as well. On top of that, there is the friendship aspect among the 3 girls. So, with only 22 episodes to fit everything in, you can only expect things to move pretty fast at times. It is great for those who hate complicated and long-winded plots but not so good for those who want more depths in their romances dramas.

A Shy Male Lead As The Main Plot

A significant portion of this drama details the love journey of a very shy male lead who is at a loss on how to express his feelings for the girl. If you like watching that kind of self-doubt and shyness, then this is the drama for you. Add in an inexperienced girl who keeps having to guess if he loves me or loves me not, it becomes a typical lighthearted rom-com.

But on the positive side, the male lead is not the usual cold and domineering personality like those CEOs in Hello Mr. Gu and Love Unexpected. Dr. Ai is reserved and shy but not emotionless. So, it is a bit of a change to watch a more timid male lead than the usual.

There is warmth in the plot from both the romance and friendship angles. I think this is what makes Sweet Teeth enjoyable although the overall story is nothing great. In fact, there are all these unrealistic coincidences in the beginning of the drama to try to put the main couple together. But once the feelings are established among the different pairings, then the warmth will slowly seep through to make you root for them.

Acting

There is no breakthrough performance here from any of the leads. Some might even find Betty Wu to be annoying as there is over-exaggeration in her acting for some scenes. But being a rom-com, I can overlook it since exaggerated expressions are pretty common in such productions especially for the comedic parts.

The last time I watched Bi Wen Jun was in In A Class Of Her Own. That was a historical drama and I think he looks better in Sweet Teeth. He nailed his role as Dr. Ai. He is not too cold and emotionless but instead leaves a subtle feeling of warmth and sincerity which fits the character’s caring but reserved personality. The other interesting actor in the drama is Zhai Xiao Wen. He gives Yu Cheng an adorable and innocent feel which you wouldn’t mind watching.

The chemistry between Betty Wu and Bi Wen Jun is not obvious in the beginning of the drama but gets a bit better as the story progresses. You won’t get the obvious sparks like the couple in You Are My Glory and Love Is Sweet. But they will gradually grow on you as you follow their romance. They emit warmth rather than passion to me. So, yes, you will get a few kisses from them but don’t expect anything hot and passionate.

My Verdict – Good Enough To Watch

Sweet Teeth has nothing extraordinary to offer unlike Crush but it also doesn’t mean it is not worth your time. With 3 couples taking up the screen time, it helps to provide more variety to the drama. So, even if you find one couple boring, you have another 2 stories to hang on to. This way, the drama moves quickly and there is less room for boredom to settle. On the flip side, the transition from friends to lovers happen rather suddenly especially for the side couples.

The other point to note is that the main couple get together at a rather late point in the drama. Their ending is predictable but they take a rather long path to get there. Some might find it slow but this is where the other 2 couples step in to take some attention away from them. That is why I find having 3 couples in this drama makes a lot of sense compared to other productions whereby sides couples could be unnecessary fillers.

For this Sweet Teeth review, I would give it a score of 7/10. It is not anything compelling but good enough to give it a go as one of those titles that you watch for some stress-free time. Treat it as a typical rom-com without too high an expectation and Sweet Teeth may just spring a surprise with its warmth. But if you set the bar too high, the female characters may just annoy you with their childish antics at times and the drama will then lose its shine.