Lol sorry, but just watching American programmes and stuff you can see that the majority of people have straight white teeth. Whereas people in Britain don't as much.. is it cheaper dental care or something?! Or genetics lol!
2007-01-16 11:45:32 · 21 answers · asked by Carine 1 in Health ➔ Dental
Even when i went to america all the people seemed to have nice sets of teeth!
and i suppose its true, the NHS arent even giving braces to kids anymore, unless its an extreme case of wonky teeth!
2007-01-16 11:52:33 · update #1
Perhaps you didn't visit the poorer areas, because I can assure you that millions of US citizens have bad teeth. The percentage of people below the poverty line is far higher than in the UK. But unlike us, they segregate, and poor people live in poor neighbourhoods. Oddly enough, these are never tourist areas.
2007-01-16 11:59:22 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This used to be especially true - hence the stereotype of bad British teeth. During the Second World War, many nationalities stationed in Britain were amazed at how white British servicemen's teeth were: they were actually dentures as, even by their 20s or 30s, a high percentage (something like 25%) had lost ALL their teeth.
In 1945, Britain invented the welfare state: rolling out free education and free health care to every citizen. Every Briton has free access to a dentist and our teeth are pretty good, considering we don't place much importance on flawless teeth.
By contrast, Americans spend thousands on their kids' smiles, if they can (look at Chelsea "the horse" Clinton). And millions of Americans have no access to a dentist at all! The US in other words is more extreme.
You may ponder the importance of natural beauty v. artificial beauty. The US has won Miss World once (even Iceland, with a population of a third of a million people, has won once!) compared to the UK, India, Sweden and Venezuela on 5.
2007-01-18 22:01:54 · answer #2 · answered by Rational_economist 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is to do with the NHS system. I wanted to get some work done on my teeth in England and they quoted 2000 pounds as it was asthetic work and not covered on the NHS. After moving to Japan I asked the same of a Japanese dentist who quoted 250 pounds for the work.
2007-01-17 01:41:14 · answer #3 · answered by SR13 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Americans you see on tv are rich enough to have good health insurance which includes a dental package. The NHS is barely staying afloat and can only afford minimal procedures and private is insanely priced.
2007-01-16 19:51:13 · answer #4 · answered by ammie 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Good question! I don't really know the answer, but I always assumed that Europeans didn't care about oral hygiene as much. We (Americans) are so concerned about looks and all the superficial ideas of how we are supposed to look, that is probably the reason why. I do have good genetics and have excellent teeth!
2007-01-16 19:52:50 · answer #5 · answered by Kristy 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Its not cheaper or anything. We get whitening toothpaste, whitening strips, whitening mothwash and brough 2-3 times a day. We take really good take care of our teeth.
2007-01-16 20:42:38 · answer #6 · answered by Cutie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
people in Britain don't have the same expectations as us. Good healthy teeth don't matter much to them and they think that taking care of their teeth isn't a must.
2007-01-20 16:53:48 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well, I can only speak for myself. As a child, my Mother used the School dentist as "The Bogeyman". All my childish nightmares featured the dentist. As an adult, I still fear him & as a result, my teeth are awful.
2007-01-16 20:20:04 · answer #8 · answered by ispooky2 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most americans (those with some money anyway) get braces as kids & those that dont get caps or veneers as adults
2007-01-16 19:53:44 · answer #9 · answered by la.bruja0805 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Q: What do you get when you stick 32 rednecks in one room?
A: A full set of teeth.
lol ;-)
2007-01-16 21:02:21 · answer #10 · answered by Butterscotch 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋