Are you surprised when someone in a professional role has bad teeth

[layback]

I met with someone in a senior health role today and was quite surprised by how bad their teeth were, a lot of tartar build up on the front teeth which was really noticeable. Their role is well paid so it made me wonder why they've not had their teeth cleaned.

I am not bashing those who can't access a dentist at all or those with weak teeth or poor genetics. My teeth were pretty rotten and I spent around £8000 over several years fixing them, I was really self conscious about them and it impacted day to day life, I couldn't laugh with my mouth open, I was fearful of anyone noticing my bad teeth it was horrid. So, I saved, used credit cards and slowly had the work needed, I don't have turkey looking teeth just average now but what a difference to my self worth.

I really notice teeth, both good and bad. They are one of the first things you see.

I follow someone on IG, she’s a pretty famous influencer (I won’t name her). She has horrid, little yellow teeth. I don’t get it. She’s clearly very much into her appearance yet doesn’t fix her horrid gnashers.

I did wonder why my own dentist had really bad teeth. That was odd.

I’m off to the US in a month, with my wonky British teeth and will enjoy feeling “natural”.

I could quite happily be married to Juergen Klopp, were it not for his teeth. His loss!

My rotten teeth were a result of childhood neglect, alcoholic parents and being homeless for severe periods in my lifetime. I've never had any privileges in life, my teeth suffered further during pregnancies. The treatment took five years in total and included braces, I scrimped and saved to pay it and used interest free credit cards and sacrificed many other things to afford it. I know poverty! I know trauma! To those that judge me for my character, get fucked!

Plaque build up is virtually free to deal with though? Just brush your teeth. I don't think many people would judge others for having some cosmetic issue that requires time, effort, pain and discomfort to fix. But basic hygiene is basic hygiene

I would agree.

both my sister and I had nhs braces in the late 80’s. It was reasonably common to have braces, but amongst teens it was a negative thing and most would have preferred slightly crooked teeth than go through teen years in braces. Whereas now teens are asking for them and have much more of a cosmetic awareness.

mine and my sisters experience was nhs dentistry was “good enough” and gave no thought to cosmetics. My sister had a load of teeth pulled then a removable brace to pull the rest into the gaps. All done at the local nhs surgery, not by an orthodontist. Her bottom teeth weren’t done as they couldn’t be seen- but now it’s almost impossible to keep them properly clean because of the slight overcrowding.

i did get referred to the orthodontist at hospital as I needed “train tracks”, but again once my teeth were approximately straight that was “good enough” and I was discharged.

Private cosmetic dentistry wasn’t really a thing. We could probably have afforded it but it never occurred to any of us, despite my mum hating her not quite straight teeth and even now in her 80’s still talking about getting them fixed.

whereas my kids private dentist didn’t remove their braces until the cosmetic result was as near perfect as possible.

I could be the person you're talking about. Healthcare professional (albeit mental health not physical); reasonably well paid (nhs band 7); mid thirties; patient-facing. I brush my teeth twice a day but not well enough as plaque builds up on them and whenever I do go to the dentist, I'm always told off. No serious gum disease but warned of it being in early stages. Miracle it's been held at bay. Teeth also somewhat yellowish, albeit not extremely so - I really really noticed it the other day when I was eating a polo mint and saw my own face in the car mirror 😆.

For insight, the reasons in my case are:

• long term fear of dentists and hygienists after nasty experience as a child. I make myself go once a year and struggle to go more
• long term poor self-care - a low self-esteem / mild depression thing I think. I also rarely wear makeup or do my hair nicely
• stubborn teeth! I've actually paid to have them whitened twice in the last ten years, both using different methods, and the dentists expressed their disappointment in the results both times. In the instance that required self application at home it's possible I didn't leave it on long enough / do it thoroughly enough.
• even so all the above still doesn't excuse my lack of more thorough brushing and flossing. I would blame stress and a young child but lots of other people manage to be thorough with more on their plates. Laziness? Lack of caring? I've sort of always been that way since I was a kid, with my mum battling with me to persuade me to 'groom' myself.

Maybe you are being reasonable and maybe unreasonable. I don't know which. I don't notice this sort of thing in others unless it's really terrible but I am generally unobservant. I often worry that my clients / patients will think that my lack of self care means I will be crap at my job, especially as I'm supposed to be helping them with THEIR mental health and struggle with my own. I almost seem to get on well with them and get a lot of positive feedback about my work but as I never know for sure what anyone is thinking, it is possible that most of them are secretly wondering why my teeth are shit. This post has increased my fears in this regard.

No, it isn’t always.

if you have overcrowding or less than perfect teeth/gums it can be difficult to keep tartar at bay without regular hygenist appointments.

i have two teeth that slightly overlap. Despite my best efforts I get build up. The dentist has said it’s not anything I’m doing, but that the surface of one tooth is inaccessible to me.

Floss?

i do but it doesn’t help much as it’s not just a between teeth area, it’s an overlap so I can’t get between the teeth properly even with floss.

do you not think the dentist who told me there’s nothing I could do myself hadn’t thought of that? 😂

I'm wondering if the person you saw was me 🤔 not really but I do have an I jury to a front tooth that happened in my teens, it intermittently requires redoing and internal bleaching and currently has some dental adhesive or something on it due to a treatment being disrupted half way through that probably does look like build up of plaque but definitely isn't. I hate that people think that but I'm sure they do.

YABVU

If they are good at their job, then who cares what their teeth look like?
As a HCP, they are there to help you with your health. Their health is fuck all to do with you.

It’s really not that easy to get help if you’re scared of the dentist! I have a dentist phobia and it took me 3 years to set foot back through a door- I’m now on a waiting list, that I’ve been on almost a year to get my dental work done under sedation- not all NHS dentists will do it- and I live in the south east- not somewhere rural with no dentists!

Maybe she has a phobia of the dentist? But seriously, doctors don’t need to look polished to be good doctors. A gynaecologist I saw a while back was dressed in quite a bohemian way and looked a little scruffy, but she was a great gynaecologist so I can’t complain. If this doctor worked front of house at a luxury members’ only club, you might have a point about presentation, but she’s not, she’s a doctor.

I'm the same OP, I have awful teeth but have spent a fortune on fixing them and they're still not perfect but I am obsessed with other people's teeth. It's the first thing I look at when I meet someone, people on tv etc.

This is obviously because of my own insecurities but I do wonder why sometimes people with bad teeth don't just invest a bit of money or up their dental cleaning. I have massive tooth envy when people have fantastic gnashers

I have a missing tooth - a top one which is very obvious. I can't afford to do anything about it.

It does not actually bother me, and I am not going to get into huge debt because of my mind reading of other people. if they judge me, then as long as they keep those thoughts in their head, I am none the wiser and don't care.

I’m the opposite Can’t stand toilet bowl teeth.

This is so interesting.

We have reached a stage that because cosmetic dentistry is more common and widely available, it is becoming an expectation that people will avail themselves of these procedures and services.

Obviously we weren't there to see this person but as someone that has worked with long term insecurely housed adults, and those with substance dependence issues etc, I have never seen build up to the degree you describe. It sounds more like a discolouration or staining issue instead?

I have very unattractive teeth. I have poor enamel and discoloration due to antibiotics. I don't care. I keep them clean, had braces and see a dentist regularly who says I have no issues. My teeth are healthy but not aesthetically pleasing. Most people must notice mine but never mention it, politely.

Really odd that others may think as you do, that it's almost mandatory to undergo cosmetic improvements if you have a reasonable income - I have a nice house, nice car, nice holidays and hobbies....shit teeth though 🤣

I wouldn't faff with my teeth to end up with degraded versions of my healthy natural ones, in the same way as I wouldn't have a boob job to "improve" my saggy post bf natural ones, nor would I have my post partum apron surgically trimmed or tucked. Wonder how far off we are from these becoming expectations too, or weight loss injections? Or people wondering why people wear glasses instead of having laser treatment?

Being able to get interest free credit cards and scrimp and save 8k is absolutely a privilege

As you should know if you know poverty. Many people simply couldn't dream of saving that amount of money for dentist bills.

I would be v surprised and I would definitely judge but I always notice teeth.

I wouldn’t actually say something though!

It was like this

The £8000 was over five years! I had no holidays, new clothes, social life, every penny went to my dental work. It wasn't cosmetic, it was needed work, to save my teeth. There was no choice.

You are weirdly fixated on this woman’s teeth and over invested in proving to everyone that you are right on the subject.

Perhaps a new hobby is in order 🤷‍♀️

That is the back of someone's teeth.
And how did their teeth affect the care they delivered you?

It was the most similar photo I could find but that's how the front teeth looked. It was a man actually, not a woman.

not fixated just interested in opinions.

I have many hobbies luckily!