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Rule Britannia!

I love the smell of empirical evidence in the morning

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/dec/17/british-teeth-us-dentistry-oral-health

For years, Hollywood has lampooned Britain as an island of toothless simpletons (which is true to be honest, if my next door neighbour is anything to go by ), or simpletons with crooked teeth - Austin Powers being a prime example!

But no more America! Your reign of terror is over! If you want crooked teeth, take a trip closer to home!

From what I've seen, teeth health can be highly dependent on genetics.

 LethalShade wrote:
From what I've seen, teeth health can be highly dependent on genetics.

Or good quality tooth paste, and of course lots of fluorine in the water

From what I've gathered over the years, the American dental industry is simply more keen on selling cosmetic procedures to it's customers. Tooth health seems to be about the same.

I (Brit born and bred) have wonkier teeth than my wife (American), but have never needed a filling. She has several even though her teeth "look better".

And I never understood the stereotype anyway. Plenty of toothless rednecks around here, it's not like America is some haven of straight white smiles.

 Alex C wrote:
From what I've gathered over the years, the American dental industry is simply more keen on selling cosmetic procedures to it's customers. Tooth health seems to be about the same.

I (Brit born and bred) have wonkier teeth than my wife (American), but have never needed a filling. She has several even though her teeth "look better".

And I never understood the stereotype anyway. Plenty of toothless rednecks around here, it's not like America is some haven of straight white smiles.

But Hollywood...but....

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 LethalShade wrote:
From what I've seen, teeth health can be highly dependent on genetics.

Or good quality tooth paste, and of course lots of fluorine in the water

Depends. I know my mother (and my sister too) was particularly susceptible to tooth decay while my father (and myself) was almost "immune" to it.

 LethalShade wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 LethalShade wrote:
From what I've seen, teeth health can be highly dependent on genetics.

Or good quality tooth paste, and of course lots of fluorine in the water

Depends. I know my mother was particularly susceptible to tooth decay while my father (and myself) was almost "immune" to it.

Ugh, tell me about it.

My siblings and I all blame our mom for our problematic teeth - she has as many fillings as we do (over a dozen each), while my dad's teeth are fine apart from a couple caps where a hockey puck chipped his two upper front teeth. And that only made his teeth look better!

Of course, now we suspect it may have been a bit of a scam on our previous dentist's part.

 infinite_array wrote:

 LethalShade wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 LethalShade wrote:
From what I've seen, teeth health can be highly dependent on genetics.

Or good quality tooth paste, and of course lots of fluorine in the water

Depends. I know my mother was particularly susceptible to tooth decay while my father (and myself) was almost "immune" to it.

Ugh, tell me about it.

My siblings and I all blame our mom for our problematic teeth - she has as many fillings as we do (over a dozen each), while my dad's teeth are fine apart from a couple caps where a hockey puck chipped his two upper front teeth. And that only made his teeth look better!

Of course, now we suspect it may have been a bit of a scam on our previous dentist's part.

There has been a few dental scandals here in the UK where dentists were doing unnecessary work! The swines!

I've yet to meet anybody who ever liked a dentist and I've been to 3 continents


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 LethalShade wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 LethalShade wrote:
From what I've seen, teeth health can be highly dependent on genetics.

Or good quality tooth paste, and of course lots of fluorine in the water

Depends. I know my mother (and my sister too) was particularly susceptible to tooth decay while my father (and myself) was almost "immune" to it.

Get some vitamin R in you

It's a joke from the Simpsons

Way to go Louisiana you're ruining the curve for the rest of us.

It is a bit of cherry picking as it's based on low income, which means that if you compare people who can afford it then British tend to have worse. The problem with US poor is that most state health programs don't cover teeth (vision or hearing) they will get you fed and to a doctor but not much else, additionally a large number of poor state and local counties don't fluoridate the water. Then on top of that there's the meth epidemic in the rural US.

Not really surprising that people with little or no available care would be surpassed by a group that has at least some socialized medicine.

 stanman wrote:
Way to go Louisiana you're ruining the curve for the rest of us.

It is a bit of cherry picking as it's based on low income, which means that if you compare people who can afford it then British tend to have worse. The problem with US poor is that most state health programs don't cover teeth (vision or hearing) they will get you fed and to a doctor but not much else, additionally a large number of poor state and local counties don't fluoridate the water. Then on top of that there's the meth epidemic in the rural US.

Not really surprising that people with little or no available care would be surpassed by a group that has at least some socialized medicine.

Except here in the UK the better off can also pay more for their care by going private if they want a particular procedure or whatever. So that argument doesn't really work. We'd be higher in the curve because our better off can afford the same type of care as their equivalents in the US but here the poor can afford care too, and there are more poor people than rich people

 Alex C wrote:
From what I've gathered over the years, the American dental industry is simply more keen on selling cosmetic procedures to it's customers.

Aye, that's what I've come to understand too. Hollywood demands everyone have perfectly straight pearly white teeth (so plastic caps usually), in some other places it's not as important. Ergo people think it's those Hollywood teeth that are good even if you don't even know if all of those perfect white things are the person's real teeth anymore.

I always figured free dental for the UK means we have ugly but healthy teeth, whereas you get both extremes in the USA - those who can afford it have cosmetically nice teeth, those who can't are screwed in all respects.

 stanman wrote:
It is a bit of cherry picking as it's based on low income, which means that if you compare people who can afford it then British tend to have worse. The problem with US poor is that most state health programs don't cover teeth (vision or hearing) they will get you fed and to a doctor but not much else, additionally a large number of poor state and local counties don't fluoridate the water. Then on top of that there's the meth epidemic in the rural US.

In the UK there are set prices for NHS dental care, with many people being able to get it totally free depending on health conditions, benefits, etc.

+ Emergency dental treatment – £18.80
Band 1 course of treatment – £18.80
This covers an examination, diagnosis (including X-rays), advice on how to prevent future problems, a scale and polish if clinically needed, and preventative care such as the application of fluoride varnish or fissure sealant if appropriate.

+ Band 2 course of treatment – £51.30
This covers everything listed in Band 1 above, plus any further treatment such as fillings, root canal work or removal of teeth but not more complex items covered by Band 3.

+ Band 3 course of treatment – £222.50
This covers everything listed in Bands 1 and 2 above, plus crowns, dentures, bridges and other laboratory work.

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/dentists/Pages/nhs-dental-charges.aspx

Personally I think the fetishised American teeth are more of a joke than British teeth ever were. Austin Powers' teeth aren't the prettiest, but at least they look like human teeth, and not some crazy glow-in-the-dark scary gak. It's like someone who's had so much plastic surgery that they've started to look like an alien, poking fun at someone else for being a bit overweight... Like yeah, maybe they don't look their best, but at least they don't look fething weird.

 LethalShade wrote:
From what I've seen, teeth health can be highly dependent on genetics.

A far bigger issue is family habits than genetics. Poor diet (IE lots of sugar, acid and refined carbs) and poor cleaning habits tend to be habits from family.

 Steve steveson wrote:

 LethalShade wrote:
From what I've seen, teeth health can be highly dependent on genetics.

A far bigger issue is family habits than genetics. Poor diet (IE lots of sugar, acid and refined carbs) and poor cleaning habits tend to be habits from family.

 LethalShade wrote:
Depends. I know my mother (and my sister too) was particularly susceptible to tooth decay while my father (and myself) was almost "immune" to it.

You think British or American teeth are bad?
You have never seen Russian teeth then.

There is a reason Russians never smile... And no, it is not because smiling is considered impolite in Russia!
It is because an average Russian smile looks like this:

And that is when people actually bother to visit a dentist... Blame the dentists, not the people.


(Okay to be fair, it is improving over the past few years (as with everything in Russia), golden teeth are a thing of Soviet and Yeltsin times. Whether you are rich or poor is also important. Russia has free dental care for everyone, but the state clinics are much worse than private clinics)

 Iron_Captain wrote:
You think British or American teeth are bad?
You have never seen Russian teeth then.

There is a reason Russians never smile... And no, it is not because smiling is considered impolite in Russia!
It is because an average Russian smile looks like this:

Spoiler:

And that is when people actually bother to visit a dentist... Blame the dentists, not the people.


(Okay to be fair, it is improving over the past few years (as with everything in Russia), golden teeth are a thing of Soviet and Yeltsin times. Whether you are rich or poor is also important. Russia has free dental care for everyone, but the state clinics are much worse than private clinics)

Vodka doesn't rot your teeth

The way the world economy is going, a mouthful of gold teeth might not be a bad idea.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Alex C wrote:
From what I've gathered over the years, the American dental industry is simply more keen on selling cosmetic procedures to it's customers. Tooth health seems to be about the same.

I (Brit born and bred) have wonkier teeth than my wife (American), but have never needed a filling. She has several even though her teeth "look better".

And I never understood the stereotype anyway. Plenty of toothless rednecks around here, it's not like America is some haven of straight white smiles.

But Hollywood...but....

Keyword there

 Smacks wrote:
Personally I think the fetishised American teeth are more of a joke than British teeth ever were. Austin Powers' teeth aren't the prettiest, but at least they look like human teeth, and not some crazy glow-in-the-dark scary gak. It's like someone who's had so much plastic surgery that they've started to look like an alien, poking fun at someone else for being a bit overweight... Like yeah, maybe they don't look their best, but at least they don't look fething weird.

What - do you also think that all Americans wear cowboy hats too?

And we all have hip holsters to play out the Wild West shootout

Edit

some low gun fighter holsters to

I feel like this is a moment of Brits with bad hygiene looking for any excuse to make us feel bad, cuz we kicked their asses a few centuries ago. Get over it, guys!

'Murica!

Dude I quick draw and pewpewpew all the time what are you talking about

The article is irrelevant because American teeth are better than British teeth in spirit. Any discussion of hygiene or genetics is rendered otiose in the face of the freedom and passion of American teeth. My teeth are perfect in every way, despite coming from the flawed background of my mother's British-born teeth. Why are my teeth great?

The genetics of my father's teeth being great?
No.

The hygiene of brushing and flossing since a young age?
No.

The nutritional benefits of a relatively balanced diet?
No.

Years of excellent dental care?
No.

My teeth are great because America's teeth are great and no amount of logic will change that.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
The article is irrelevant because American teeth are better than British teeth in spirit. Any discussion of hygiene or genetics is rendered otiose in the face of the freedom and passion of American teeth. My teeth are perfect in every way, despite coming from the flawed background of my mother's British-born teeth. Why are my teeth great?

The genetics of my father's teeth being great?
No.

The hygiene of brushing and flossing since a young age?
No.

The nutritional benefits of a relatively balanced diet?
No.

Years of excellent dental care?
No.

My teeth are great because America's teeth are great and no amount of logic will change that.

I feel sorry for American dakka members. One minute, you're the top dog in the world, the next minute, China is on the rise, and to add insult to injury, the British have got better teeth than you

Throw down your guns America, it's all over


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 timetowaste85 wrote:
I feel like this is a moment of Brits with bad hygiene looking for any excuse to make us feel bad, cuz we kicked their asses a few centuries ago. Get over it, guys!

'Murica!

You call it American Revolution, we call it minor skirmish

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
otiose

Waah! That word! There it is again!
How come every time you learn a new word it suddenly starts popping up everywhere, even though you had never seen it before?

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
The article is irrelevant because American teeth are better than British teeth in spirit. Any discussion of hygiene or genetics is rendered otiose in the face of the freedom and passion of American teeth. My teeth are perfect in every way, despite coming from the flawed background of my mother's British-born teeth. Why are my teeth great?

The genetics of my father's teeth being great?
No.

The hygiene of brushing and flossing since a young age?
No.

The nutritional benefits of a relatively balanced diet?
No.

Years of excellent dental care?
No.

My teeth are great because America's teeth are great and no amount of logic will change that.

I feel sorry for American dakka members. One minute, you're the top dog in the world, the next minute, China is on the rise, and to add insult to injury, the British have got better teeth than you

Throw down your guns America, it's all over


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 timetowaste85 wrote:
I feel like this is a moment of Brits with bad hygiene looking for any excuse to make us feel bad, cuz we kicked their asses a few centuries ago. Get over it, guys!

'Murica!

You call it American Revolution, we call it minor skirmish

If I had the best army in the world and got my ass kicked by a bunch of upstart peasants with no training, I'd try to play it off too as no big thing too.

 timetowaste85 wrote:

If I had the best army in the world and got my ass kicked by a bunch of upstart peasants with no training, I'd try to play it off too as no big thing too.

A bunch of peasants supported by the French, Spanish and Dutch. Funny how often those others get left out

I can see this is rapidly going nowhere nice.

So, on that note, goodnight!