Why the English have shitty teeth

[Heretic]

Don't worry Heretic has been BD's resident expert on britain and everything else for years..spewing endless illinformed, pompous bullshit. Being an American he rather prefers his teeth nazi style: white (no coloureds), and standing in very straight lines... Having had that little pop, the British dental system is a f*** disgrace, and i should know - took me ages to get a dentist here. f*** 3rd world...

This was great! Thanks!

[TroubleInParadise]

The reverse question would be, "Why are Americans so insanely anal about teeth?"

I have never met another nationality that was so concerned with teeth, teeth straightening, teeth whitening, flossing, rinsing, capping . . . Start talking about teeth with Americans and there goes half your day.

Dental hygiene is important but too many Americans look like freaks with blinding white perfect smiles coming at you like a f*** shark.

I honestly believe its becase everyone in old Uncle US of Stateside believes that they are (or should be) a star and that having perfect teeth will make them more photogenic and likeable.

[Heretic]

Again, I have never been to a dentist. It costs thousands of dollars to go to a dentist, so uninsured Americans can't go.

Yet, my teeth are perfect. I think that perhaps it is because most localities add flourine to the water? Or most elementary schools force kids to gargle flourine and brush at lunch? Or maybe diet?

Who knows. But it is strange for people to talk about unhealthy American are (for a lack of socialized medicine), and then talk about how great the teeth are. After all, our teeth are not taken care of by socialized medicine, either!

[CowsUdders]

My teeth resemble something like this:

http://dotnet.org.za/photos/robgoss/ima ... 5x353.aspx

So British teeth are NOT all bad.

[Britisher]

The reverse question would be, "Why are Americans so insanely anal about teeth?"

I have never met another nationality that was so concerned with teeth, teeth straightening, teeth whitening, flossing, rinsing, capping . . . Start talking about teeth with Americans and there goes half your day.

Dental hygiene is important but too many Americans look like freaks with blinding white perfect smiles coming at you like a f*** shark.

I honestly believe its becase everyone in old Uncle US of Stateside believes that they are (or should be) a star and that having perfect teeth will make them more photogenic and likeable.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27994

[Katsu]

Again, I have never been to a dentist. It costs thousands of dollars to go to a dentist, so uninsured Americans can't go.

Perhaps if you have never been to a dentist in your life and your mouth is full of jagged craters, then yes, it costs thousands to go.

Personally, I have never had dental insurance in the USA, and yet I used to routinely go to the dentist. Yes, it is expensive. However, my average filling cost about $120US and my average check-up/cleaning was significantly less than that. If you added up all of the dental bills across my entire life thus far, it might equal $1000. Uninsured Americans can certainly go to the dentist. You're full of it.

[Heretic]

Really? So a single mother working at McDonalds can spend $120 without a second thought? What if she gets a cavity? Or falls and chips a tooth?

You guys constantly rail against the US medical system, yet suddenly it seems that lacking health insurance is not such a bad thing. It is funny, because one day you guys will claim that lacking insurance is a disencentive to going to Urgent Care (cost: $75-$100), but obviously $120 is not a disencentive to go to the dentist!

I love watching hypocrites trip themselves up.

[King Louis]

If I fall and chip a tooth I claim on accident insurance or workers compensation.

I did!

[Katsu]

So a single mother working at McDonalds can spend $120 without a second thought?

The body of people who lack dental insurance in America is far higher than the population of single mothers working at McDonalds.

You guys constantly rail against the US medical system,

I don't.

yet suddenly it seems that lacking health insurance is not such a bad thing.

Dental insurance, at least as far as I'm concerned, is not a serious thing to lack.

[Heretic]

Katsu, unsurpisingly, you are missing the point.

Some guys above were bitching that Americans are too obsessive about their teeth. My point was:

I never went to a dentist, but I still have good teeth, so obviously there is something else to the good American teeth thing. Also, a lot of Americans don't have access to a dentist, but they still have decent teeth on average.

You came along and then claimed that dental care wasn't a big deal, and implied that the lower classes are dying from a lack of health care, but still have enough cash to get a cavity filled..!

Now, you are making some unknown point that appears to be disassociated from the discussion at hand.

[Katsu]

and implied that the lower classes are dying from a lack of health care,

Don't lie.

[Heretic]

If I fall and chip a tooth I claim on accident insurance or workers compensation.

I did!

Yeah, but no one work's twenty hours per day! And what about cavities? That can't be claimed via worker's comp.

[lemony_triathlete]

yet suddenly it seems that lacking health insurance is not such a bad thing.

Dental insurance, at least as far as I'm concerned, is not a serious thing to lack.

And you are how old? We'll check in with you when you are older and start having Real Problems. Furthermore, some people just have better teeth than others, period. Genetics and what. And finally, people really don't realize how tied in to the rest of their health dental health is...periodontal disease/heart problems, etc. Denatal should be part of a comprehensive health care plan...

[Heretic]

Katsu is saying that all Americans can afford dental care simply because I said that they cannot. If I had said that all Americans can afford dental care, then Katsu would undoubtedly have said that they cannot.

Don't worry, the opinions that Katsu has stated are not real opinions, based on thoughtful contemplation, but rather a series of mere knee-jerk reactions.

[kabukiboy]

I never went to a dentist, but I still have good teeth, so obviously there is something else to the good American teeth thing. Also, a lot of Americans don't have access to a dentist, but they still have decent teeth on average.

It's very flat where I live. We have no tigers. Therefore, tigers are obviously afraid of flat land.

[Katsu]

Katsu is saying that all Americans can afford dental care

You really are a terrible liar.

[Heretic]

I never went to a dentist, but I still have good teeth, so obviously there is something else to the good American teeth thing. Also, a lot of Americans don't have access to a dentist, but they still have decent teeth on average.

It's very flat where I live. We have no tigers. Therefore, tigers are obviously afraid of flat land.

The point was that many Americans cannot afford health insurance. Yet, I can't remember the last time I saw an American with bad teeth.

Why is this so? It obviously is not because all Americans have access to dentists (they don't).

[kabukiboy]

I never went to a dentist, but I still have good teeth, so obviously there is something else to the good American teeth thing. Also, a lot of Americans don't have access to a dentist, but they still have decent teeth on average.

It's very flat where I live. We have no tigers. Therefore, tigers are obviously afraid of flat land.

The point was that many Americans cannot afford health insurance. Yet, I can't remember the last time I saw an American with bad teeth.

Unreliable anecdotal evidence like that ain't exactly the most convincing way to support an argument.

[Heretic]

*sigh*

Fact: Most Americans don't have dental insurance.

Fact: Most American have great teeth.

Fact: The fact that American have great teeth must be the result of something other than access to dental insurance.

[kabukiboy]

*sigh*
Fact: Most American have great teeth.

That you can't personally recall meeting too many Americans with bad teeth constitutes that statement as a fact? See my last post.

[peter grimsdale]

excellent thread. this one will run and run. i look forward to heretic getting more and more confounded by logic until on page 9 or thereabouts he is forced to make a humiliating climb-down.

cheers!

[Sloppy]

Granted I've only really met university-educated Brits, but after all the jokes about Brit chompers I'd heard, I was surprised that I never really noticed a Brit with a banged-up grill.
Then again I was in Japan, and they were contrasted by Japs with brown tusks sticking out of the sides of their faces.

[Niniane]

Again, I have never been to a dentist. It costs thousands of dollars to go to a dentist, so uninsured Americans can't go.

Perhaps if you have never been to a dentist in your life and your mouth is full of jagged craters, then yes, it costs thousands to go.

Katsu, thank you for pointing out the scary inaccuracy in the above quote. Thousands of dollars?

I also lack dental insurance most of the time, but go for a twice yearly cleaning no matter what. You can switch dentists every time to get the "new patient special" which includes a cleaning, consultation, and X-Rays for $30 - $50. If you live in a big town, that should be enough. If not, cleanings with X-Rays usually cost $120 and on the next visit you don't have to be X-Rayed and you save $50. Cavities cost about $100-$200 to fill and can usually be avoided.

I think Americans really do care about teeth more, based on the supplies available in an American grocery or drug store. I was really shocked the first time I saw how little was available in Japan. The local grocery didn't even sell floss. Scary.

Also, the US puts flouride in the water, which is supposed to be a big factor, though I'm not sure how it would keep teeth from overlapping.

[Heretic]

My question is, if lack of insurance is causing bad dental things to happen in Britain, then why does America (which is notorious for its large population of insuranceless citizens) have a better dental reputation? The author of this article bemoans the privatization of dentistry in Britain, but exactly why is this a bad thing, if the NHS is responsible for such a relatively low quality of teeth (at least, among white people)?

http://charliemarks.wordpress.com/2007/ ... can-dream/

English teeth and the American dream
October 15th, 2007 — charliemarks

To paraphrase the poet John Hegley: these NHS dentures were devised / before my teeth were privatised.

English teeth don’t have the best reputation - the crooked yellow smile of Austin Powers famously mocked our poor dental health.

Now a survey of 5200 people has found that 20% refused treatment on grounds of cost and 6% are forced to perform DIY dentistry on themselves because of the cost of private dentistry and the shortage of NHS dentists. This might sound amusing to those who can afford the pearly whites of a rich American, but gluing your teeth back together is no laughing matter - especially if you use too strong a glue. And as for pulling them out…

So what has happened? Well, as with GP’s contracts, the government has made little effort to negotiate for us in recent years - the result being that dentists are much better off with private patients or with only doing minor things to the teeth of NHS patients.

Some NHS patients, upon finding out that their coverage is reduced, have taken out a dental plan with their dentist - a form of health insurance. They have been forced to “go private”. And here a have the sign of things to come: health insurance, if you can afford it. Those who can’t pay, go without.

And it’s not as if going private is an easy or preferable option for working people, it’s just that the alternative is too painful to contemplate. Money that might have been saved is spent on expensive treatments and insurance payments.

But this raw deal is not down to mismanagement on the part of the government. As their intention, the full privatisation of healthcare, is popular only with the US “healthcare” companies and would-be high-street providers like Boots, the government has had to reduce provision.

Under Tory goverments, both Conservative and Labour, the NHS has been prepped for privatisation by downgrading its status as the monopoly provider of healthcare for working people. This news, while shocking in content, hasn’t surprised those who are aware of the government’s agenda.

If the privatisation of healthcare in this country is not reversed, future surveys might discover people performing surgery on themselves…

[lemony_triathlete]

Also, the US puts flouride in the water, which is supposed to be a big factor, though I'm not sure how it would keep teeth from overlapping.

Not everyone in the US lives somewhere with flouride in the water.

[peter grimsdale]

this question has been discussed in other places:

http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ulti ... 000292;p=1

the conclusion they seem to come up with is that british people don't have less healthy teeth, they're just less bothered about cosmetic dentistry. i concur.

[Katsu]

My question is, if lack of insurance is causing bad dental things to happen in Britain....

My question is, why did you twice lie about what I said? Why did you twice attribute to me comments that have no relation whatsoever to what I said?

[peter grimsdale]

My question is, if lack of insurance is causing bad dental things to happen in Britain....

My question is, why did you twice lie about what I said? Why did you twice attribute to me comments that have no relation whatsoever to what I said?

sounds like someone's being intellectually dishonest, heretic. tut tut tut.

[ontoit]

To point here is that national health insurance is not all it's cracked up to be. The reality is that health care pros don't want to spend the better part of their sexually active years pent up in dental and medical college just to earn minimum wage when they finish and are no longer able to achieve an erection.

National health is a good idea in theory, but the reality is that it forces everyone to suffer far beyond the actual benefits received: patients wait for unrealistically long periods of time for basic treatment, and doctors are forced to live in poverty.

[Purin-kun]

Again, I have never been to a dentist. It costs thousands of dollars to go to a dentist, so uninsured Americans can't go.

Yet, my teeth are perfect. I think that perhaps it is because most localities add flourine to the water? Or most elementary schools force kids to gargle flourine and brush at lunch? Or maybe diet?

Who knows. But it is strange for people to talk about unhealthy American are (for a lack of socialized medicine), and then talk about how great the teeth are. After all, our teeth are not taken care of by socialized medicine, either!

Hmmm...

I grew up in a rural area and there was no fluoride in our well water. I've also never heard of public elementary schools in the US forcing kids to gargle and floss. However, I never got a cavity until I was 16 and went through a period of not brushing regularly.

I've always thought that teeth naturally came in straight (or pretty much straight). No one in my family has ever had braces and our teeth were fine as we grew up.

Myself and most of my mother's side of the family were born multiple extra teeth which had to be pulled. A lot of the family on that side is Irish/Welsh, so maybe there is a UK connection? Some of my teeth also came in crooked because I sucked my thumb at night until I was 7. I got braces in middle school, which fixed all that.


Why are Japanese teeth so bad, despite visits from the dentist once a semester starting in nursery school (in my prefecture), and brushing/gargling after every meal? I have no stats to back it up, but I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of parents who aren't concerned about their own dental hygiene and think that the brushing at school and 1.5 minutes worth of attention from a dentist per year absolves them of any responsibility for the kids' teeth.

ETA
This was amusing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueri ... 29,00.html