The actress returned to the BBC1 sci-fi series on Saturday as the Doctor's sidekick, Rose Tyler - and viewers were struck by the change in her.
Piper had developed a lisp and appeared to have difficulty moving her top lip.
The BBC messageboard was inundated with comments from baffled viewers.
"What has happened to Billie's mouth? Why wassshhhh ssshhheee ssshhhpeaking like thisssshh?" asked one.
"I was completely transfixed by her mouth! What has happened? The front two looked entirely false and she couldn't seem to move her top lip," said another.
"Does anyone else think Billie Piper seems to have developed some sort of speech impediment? She's speaking like she's just been to the dentist and can't feel her tongue," remarked one viewer, while another asked: "Has Billie Piper/Rose had some kind of dental work? Nothing obvious to see, apart from her face has changed shape, but her speech has changed - slightly off putting."
Her voice "sounded like she was whistling through false teeth" and one viewer likened her to a toothy children's TV character: "Hope she sorts it out. She's starting to resemble a Banana Split."
Theories ranged from cosmetic enhancement - although her lips did not appear swollen - to teeth braces.
One viewer claimed that in the drama Ruby In The Smoke, in which Piper also appeared at the weekend, her front teeth looked different - prompting speculation that she has had a recent trip to the dentist.
Piper, 25, left Doctor Who after series two and admitted recently that she had to reacquaint herself with Rose's accent before returning to the role.
"I had to watch a lot of the old stuff, so I could remember certain things about the character, because I've been playing posh birds since I left the programme," she said. "Rose is a bit of a chav, bless her. I needed to hear the voice and watch the posture and everything. But then the minute you get on set and you've got Russell T Davies's scripts – he remembers how to write so well for Rose – you're back there on day one, really. Well, I hope!"
A spokesman for the programme declined to comment.
But a show insider suggested Piper had "taken a while to get back into character" and may have forgotten what Rose sounded like.
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