Abstract. – For all the attention paid to corporeality as a central idiom in Amazonia, the bodily practice of teeth blackening has remained poorly explored. In this article we document that in a defined region of Western Amazonia indigenous groups used to engage in the deliberate staining of their teeth by means of chewing the leaves, shoots, or fruit of over forty different plant species. Teeth blackening and the closely associated staining of the mouth and lips took on a multiplicity of roles, beyond their aesthetic appeal in the context of applying “design” to the human body and in addition to any potential medicinal benefits. Based on the analysis of myths and ethnographic data, we argue that the meaning of teeth blackening frequently derived from teeth as a focal site of physical as well as social development in the predacious, consuming, and sexually reproductive Amazonian body. [Western Amazonia, body ornamentation, teeth blackening, perspectivism, mythology]