to wonder why the british have such manky teeth

[iloveberries]

okay so extreme title but on the whole british people have worse than average teeth... why is this?

I am british and don't have very nice teeth so i'm not slagging off brits!

All the americans and canadians i know have amazingly white (natural) teeth. Why is this? Do they put fluoride in the water?

I really want DS to have nice white teeth (because my teeth made me so upset all my life). Apart from the obvious (brushing, milk after fruit etc) what can i do to help him?!

yes, true, there are just as many Americans with bad teeth.

There is no such things as NHS dentists, obviously, and dental work is quite expensive. You can get dental insurance coverage, but in most instances it's not that good anyway.

As another poster has mentioned, getting teeth cleaned and having preventative treatment is really pushed by most dentists there. We used to have our teeth cleaned every 6 months with this nasty paste, and then a gel poured into moulds for upper and lower teeth that we had to sit with them in for a few minutes. I think it was a flouride treatment.

I still was prone to cavities, just like my mum, whereas my sisters had teeth like my dads - never seemed to get cavities. All with the same brushing and flossing habits, so go figure.

Maybe some of those people you saw with perfect teeth actually had dentures?

childrens' dentistry is free ( ok in a few places you might have problems getting an NHS dentist but in 90% of UK getting your kids seen on NHS is not that difficult

American /Canadian teeth are not naturally whiter or straighter, some use strong whitening toothpastes and strips which are not available in europe as have too much hydrogen peroxide to be legal.

children are more likely to wear braces to straighten minor defects but obviously they only get them if parents can afford it or afford the higher insurance costs to cover that it would be well over 10k per child, if your parents can't afford it you don't get braces even if really really bad, while here orthodontics is available to worst cases though it is rationed or not done on NHS in milder cases

a lot of TV celebrity smiles are the result of braces, veneers and whitening, not all treatment done on such things as 10 years younger is necessary dentistry and often the removal of tooth substance to make space for veneers is more aggressive than most dentists I know would do and is far more like a crown than a veneer

the only thing I would say is that I think the americans and canadians are much better at regular flossing while here is you brush twice a day it is good, everyone from 10 upwards should be flossing every tooth every day and that means gum disease is less likely as is bad breath.

unfortunately dental disease is like most others the more deprived areas have more tooth decay more untreated holes and more missing teeth, this is proved over and over again in every survey of both adult and child dental health

you may think every child has a toothbrush they don't. hence the child smile programmes,

I studied in Canada for a bit. All of them that had beautiful teeth had braces at some point. Most had normal teeth, like us Brits.

Because of a lack of education about dental health,a love of sugar,the amount of hidden sugars in our diet,the overstretching of NHS dentistry,the lack of orthodontic treatment and dental hygiene treatment on the NHS,the perpetual decisions over whether you can afford higher band treatment, or just leave the gap,have the tooth removed,and pay the car repairs....

I don't think there is a lack of education about dental health at all in the UK. Whether or not people choose to ignore it is another thing.

I used to live in Japan. British teeth aren't that bad in comparison. Seriously, I've seen some proper shockers (by western standards).

Believe me, I live in Canada and they eat vastly more sugar than the Brits. It is in everything. The people that have good teeth here bought them. For a fortune. I know two women with adult braces on at the moment. Mental, if you ask me. They also whiten, veneer and obsess about them. I really think that lots of parents care more about their children's teeth here than their education.

adult braces are quite common in the US whereas here it's rarer. nhs free othodontistry is for under 18s only here (if you're teeth are bad enough to get it free) but lots of people are like me in that their wisdom teeth don't come in till their early 20s and then push the teeth squint again.

my teeth are a bit crowded but healthy and white (and no fillings). in the US i'd probably be pressured to pay for braces as my friend who has lived there a couple of years now was. but i don't fancy the pain and mouth ulcers and would NEVER have purely cosmetic veneers.

I would guess it all comes down to wearing braces. My teeth are wonky as my parents did not get me a brace as a child. I would love to have nice, straight teeth but there seems little point in getting a brace now I am middle aged. My best years are gone anyway.

Most americans with White teeth have veneers (except maybe African Americans, I'm not sure if theirs are natural). The thing is US (film and TV) have a standing joke about British teeth, a bit like their Fruit cake one. I actually think it comes from the second world war. Nice well nourished Americans, come to chain smoking, nutritionally deprived (and no NHS dentistry) UK.

This is where I know I am sucked in to another thread whereas we all justify our position and feel indignant about our heritage and the OP just sits back and laughs [probably a dentist touting for business] I know I said all I do not mean all not generalising ...

YY to the fluoride in the water, sometimes they get it wrong. I lived in Colorado and they put too much in the water, I have floridosis as a result and very mottled teeth, my front teeth have yellow and brown spots on them, hence I have veneers.

My veneers were done when I was still entitled to free treatment, now they are well over do renewing and I just can't afford it!

NHS dentistry compared to rest of Europe and AMericas is cheap, does not make it easier to afford but it is relatively speaking cheap, the vast majority of people spend 3-4 times as much money each year at haridresser,

NHS statistics show that the value of the average course of treatment is roughly £48

Ariel I have only found out much of what I know now about dental health as I have researched it.I was previously uneducated about cleaning teeth before breakfast if you expect to consume something acidic so you can prepare for the acid attack,not cleaning within a min. of half hour of eating,and eating cheese after meals or chewing sugar free gum after meals to neutralize acid/stimulate saliva.
Wish I had known more of these things.

As a rule, I always find Dutch people to have very big, white, straight teeth and they LOVE sugar. Stroop, hagelslaag etc., drinking gallons of coffee and just generally putting powder sugar on everything IME. Most of the Americans I know also have good teeth but admittedly I don't know any 'poor' ones. Brits do have a reputation for bad teeth but I really don't think its deserved, like how some Aussie friends think we only have a bath on Sunday nights

The rural community in the US where my Dad lives seems to favour the gappy brown stump look. My step-mum was the only person I met who had nice teeth, till I realised they were false! Not a lot of money sloshing around in their region.

Most people I know here in the UK have perfectly clean and healthy teeth, but not perfectly straight or gleaming white.

Just checked NHS orthodontics. Grade 4 and 5 problems (quite severe) qualify for NHS treatment, Grades 1,2,and 3 unlikely. Cost of treating privately ranges from around £2k to £6k. I'd pay it, especially as you can generally phase it over a couple of years; but lots of people wouldn't.

My teeth are reasonable. But I hate going to the dentist and try to go as long as possible before I get dragged over the doorstep.

I had a v. nasty experience as a child which has never left me.

I don't know any younger people with 'manky' teeth TBH. Maybe a few older ones who were born on pre-NHS dentist days. I agree that a lot of people don't have sparkling white teeth but assuming they aren't full of holes or really badly-aligned I don't see the problem. Very white teeth aren't really that 'natural' are they?

"Very white teeth aren't really that 'natural' are they?"
Quite. Or desirable. I mean, does anyone really want to look like Jordan? Or Barry Gibb?

A lot of countries put fluoride in the water.

I think very white teeth look odd. It is hardly natural looking, is it?

The whole thing of adults having to wear braces at night because they have weakened their perfectly healthy teeth for cosmetic reasons is hardly something to aspire to either.

Maybe its because we feel the NHS should pay for all our dentistry.

If you'd be willing to spend hundreds or thousands on clothes or handbags over a few years, why not spend on your teeth instead if you want them to look better. Strange psychology.