UK vs US Teeth

[RivaOni]

This article on the BBC has annoyed me.

OK, so the US media has mocked British teeth for a fair old while, the most jarring would be the episode of The Simpsons where Lisa gets braces, but its not like the attention hasn't gone the otherway, whenever a comic in this country portrays somebody from the US, they're usually pure white of teeth which are so straight they make a brand new ruler look like its covered in notches, skin covered in perma-tan and are overly happy about everything as long as its going there way. It's stereotypes, and they can be funny, but what I find annoying is that theres probably not a whole lot of difference between normal everyday citizens of these two nations, especially when it comes to teeth, only in that you guys have to pay for all of your dental care, where as we can get it on the NHS (if you can find a dental surgery that has space...) and we all probably brush our teeth twice a day, sometimes we forget etc.

Yet the article in question seems to make out that theres a world of difference, OK, maybe in celeb land and the whole "Desperate Housewives" sort of people who take their personal appearance far too seriously and usually put that before anything else. The rest of us, well we obviously do not count to broadcasting agencies such as the BBC and the like, after all we don't tend to be perfect in appearance. But I'd rather look at someone who's happy and confident in their appearance despite their flaws than someone who's overly concious of looking "perfect" and instead just looking false.

Something else that narked me was this:

[Kudasai Hiroki]

I've met a rather large number of British citezens, to include Scottish, English and even Irish. I can tell you that there is little to no difference in the level of dental hygiene between the British and Americans. In fact I've seen more Americans with messed up grills than I have British. I do agree that these alligations are based mostly on stereotypes, however, I must admit that they are funny.

[Doot]

Don't ever listen to Americans who say another country should do just like America does. They are more than likely untraveled and nationalistic pigheads who never stepped foot outside of their comfy country borders.

Wherever you go you'll find the overly vain and the underprivileged and regardless of their hygiene we are all still human beings.

Hooray for that.

[Ming]

That guy's comment is extremely ignorant, and I agree with Doot that anyone who says some other county should do things "just like America does" should probably be ignored.

I think, honestly, that the entire article and it's subject matter is ridiculous though. But we have no one else to blame than our own TV and movies that have created a false perception of what people should look like. But then again, is this any different than any other time? TV and movies have been making people feel bad about themselves for decades. I give a lot of credit to people like Ricky Gervais, who refuse to give in to what Hollywood deems is "perfection".

Regarding teeth, I am fortunate enough to have straight teeth. But they are in no way perfectly white, nor would I really consider whitening them. That doesn't mean that they're unhealthy. As long as you follow your dentist's instructions on how to keep your teeth healthy (British or American) I see no reason to worry.

Also, a few of the comments in the article mentioned that flouride in America's water is partly responsible for our teeth being straighter, whiter, and/or healthier than everyone else's. I may be wrong, but wasn't there something released a few years ago that proved flouride had no affect on teeth whatsoever? I'm pretty sure that was the reason my dentist stopped applying it to my teeth every visit.

[RivaOni]

In regards to the flouride, British water supplies have it too, as does toothpaste, so those comments are null and void anyhow...