I've not heard of paying through the teeth before, but here's some OneLook hits for pay through the nose.

edit: the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms says..
The origin of this term has been lost. Possibly it alludes to
the Danish nose tax, imposed in Ireland in the 9th century,
whereby delinquent taxpayers were punished by having their
noses slilt.

Last edited by tsuwm; 02/13/2008 5:19 AM.