So long as people can't tell the difference when it matters, you can do anything you want. If you don't pay attention to the first clues you project to people who don't know you yet, there will sometimes be a price to pay.

One of the other social rules we have (and this is a far stronger one than any regarding tats), is that you need to have teeth. I managed to knock out my teeth twice in one year back when I was in college. The second time, I decided I wasn't going to eff around with fixing something that was going to keep getting broken. If you really want to scare the crap out of people, I recommend doing what I did and walk around without front teeth. That I had a shaved head and liked to wear a sleeveless denim jacket did not help.

After a month, I realized I had to do something, so I have fake ones that look better than the real ones ever did. Thankfully, I did not get teeth made of surgical steel which I thought were both functional and cool. Actually, I still think that. But there ain't no way I'd go that route.