# Americans, tell me about the social significance of "perfect teeth" by expensive dentistry **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 6, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554 "2010-03-06T20:15:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/21 "2010-03-06T22:53:26Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I’m talking about pictures like > [This](http://www.caughtoffside.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/ribery.jpg) > [This](http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture/Dillion_Day/British.png) > [This](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ojZlmnaXmGE/R1TIRs7I06I/AAAAAAAAAXg/oHvs28EIWiI/s400/cusl01_hitchens0712.jpg) The first one and last one would be normal here. The second one would probably been offered some work if she had seen a dentist. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/22 "2010-03-06T23:02:18Z")
These are the [teeth](http://annebethsweblog.punt.nl/upload/prinswa.jpg) of [Willem-Alexander](http://images.starlounge.com/slideshows-3/Prins_Willem_Alexander_.jpg), our Dutch Royal Prince, our future King. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/23 "2010-03-06T23:11:11Z")
I’m American, I never wore my retainer\* so my teeth do not overlap past the canine teeth and my teeth are a little yellow. I cover my mouth sometimes when I get worried whether they’re showing at all (I rarely talk with my teeth and never smile with them). But I have a Japanese teacher who has barely, barely crooked teeth and people refer to them as atrocious. - And, and I know I’ll get mocked and scorned for this, I still suck my fingers when I sleep (middle and ring, I never sucked my thumb). ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/24 "2010-03-06T23:15:26Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > The first one and last one would be normal here. The second one would probably been offered some work if she had seen a dentist. Interesting. My purely American take on those pics is that the third one is by far the most disgusting. It would be shocking for any sort of professional to let their teeth fall into that sort of neglect. A twice a year scaling (removal of hardened plaque) and cleaning is typical in the US. That guy looks like he hasn’t had his teeth cleaned in decades. You seem to have a belief that Americans ONLY engage in cosmetic dentistry and that their teeth are rotting underneath. That is not the case. It is very important in the US for people to have strong teeth which are healthy and save any teeth that become damaged often at considerable expense. For example, a root canal and crown will cost $1600 - $2400, and insurance rarely covers more than 75% and often has a cap on the dollar amount they will pay out in a year which is low, like $1000-$2000. One major procedure usually maxes you out, after that you pay out of pocket ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/25 "2010-03-06T23:18:39Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I’m American, I never wore my retainer\* so my teeth do not overlap past the canine teeth and my teeth are a little yellow. I cover my mouth sometimes when I get worried whether they’re showing at all (I rarely talk with my teeth and never smile with them). But I have a Japanese teacher who has barely, barely crooked teeth and people refer to them as atrocious. > > - And, and I know I’ll get mocked and scorned for this, I still suck my fingers when I sleep (middle and ring, I never sucked my thumb). Er, I was thinking of the other teeth thread. Stupid having two tabs at once open. Except the Japanese teacher part… I think I thought these were the same thread. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/26 "2010-03-06T23:29:47Z")
You bring up an interesting subject, **Maastricht**. Like so many things, I think Canada isn’t quite as extreme as the US, but we’re closer to their standard than a European standard. I considered my teeth quite yellow, but when I talked to my dental hygienist about them, she said they were a perfectly normal colour for teeth. I wouldn’t consider getting them whitened because they’re too weak to start with - I don’t want them any weaker. I also have a somewhat-jutting canine tooth and crooked bottom teeth in front, but I’m not getting them fixed, either. The colour and straightness of my teeth cause me no problems; if they weren’t so weak, I’d be just fine with them. I am not out of the ordinary for an average middle-aged Canadian, either - lots of people I know have less-than-perfect teeth. Most people who had teeth as bad as **Hello Again’s** links would get them fixed, though. Teeth aren’t covered in our universal health care, though, so a lot of people have the bare minimum done if they have no employer’s dental insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/27 "2010-03-06T23:33:03Z")
> [@Tamex](#): > > I must live in a different America from you because I know several people, working class and not homeless, with missing teeth. Generally, it’s back teeth. Pulling teeth is cheaper than a root canal from what I understand. I mean visible missing teeth, in the front. **Maastricht** , the pictures you are posting are not that bad. (Although I can’t open several of them.) The teeth of the first newscaster and the prince look generally straight and only slightly yellowed. No one in America would be shocked at those teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/28 "2010-03-07T00:01:01Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I have a friend who is a well regarded professional at a very well known international company, and has what I call “British teeth” This is just an offensive and racist term. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/29 "2010-03-07T00:26:07Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I have a friend who is a well regarded professional at a very well known international company, and has what I call “British teeth” Are you comfortable with self-identifying as a stupid unthinking broad-brush moron? Hope so, because you just have. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/30 "2010-03-07T00:37:19Z")
I’ve got pretty alright teeth. I brush daily (morning and night), floss and wrinse with mouth wash (the latter two at night, typically). My top teeth are good (my right front tooth is slightly, almost imperceptibly further forward than my left), but my bottom teeth are good until you get to the front right quadrant, in which it looks a bit smashed together. If I hadn’t had braces when I was a child, I’d be unable to properly chew, I believe. Even as they are now, it bothers me (although that probably has something to do with being a weeeee bit OCD, the cosmetics are entirely irrelevant). When I see someone with clearly decayed looking teeth (dark brown, light brown, or a deep set yellow) I think someone has probably not been taking care of themselves properly, and they appear to be in a state of disarray, no matter how well groomed they are. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/31 "2010-03-07T00:45:27Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > This is just an offensive and racist term. Offensive it may be, but the British race? That’s a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/32 "2010-03-07T00:53:05Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Are you comfortable with self-identifying as a stupid unthinking broad-brush moron? Hope so, because you just have. [Moderator Note]What _I’m_ uncomfortable with is this type of posting outside of The BBQ Pit. Dial it back a notch, o.k.?[/Moderator Note] ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/33 "2010-03-07T00:57:14Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Interesting. My purely American take on those pics is that the third one is by far the most disgusting. It would be shocking for any sort of professional to let their teeth fall into that sort of neglect. A twice a year scaling (removal of hardened plaque) and cleaning is typical in the US. That guy looks like he hasn’t had his teeth cleaned in decades. > > You seem to have a belief that Americans ONLY engage in cosmetic dentistry and that their teeth are rotting underneath. That is not the case. It is very important in the US for people to have strong teeth which are healthy and save any teeth that become damaged often at considerable expense. For example, a root canal and crown will cost $1600 - $2400, and insurance rarely covers more than 75% and often has a cap on the dollar amount they will pay out in a year which is low, like $1000-$2000. One major procedure usually maxes you out, after that you pay out of pocket I agree with this. Also, I have to add that it’s not like we’re all getting veneers. I don’t know of anyone in my circle of friend/family/co workers who has them. Do we use the teeth whitening strips, etc? Sure. Mostly because yellow teeth look aging. I agree that it looks silly at the extreme (like the 80 year old with jet black hair), but the whitening strips are more like someone in their 40’s covering emerging greys. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/34 "2010-03-07T01:19:13Z")
I am American but grew up in the upper-lower class, with iffy teeth. I am missing a molar (parents could afford to pull a broken tooth but not crown it at the time), lots of root canals and crowns, and my front teeth are slightly crooked. As a kid braces were completely out of the question economically. People of higher incomes don’t quite realize how low orthodontics can come on the hierarchy of needs when having shoes that keep your feet separated from the ground is a priority. As an adult my teeth have hit a status quo healthy maintenance place (got a lot of work done cheap while living in Canada) and I treat them well so the hygienist has little to do when I go in for a cleaning, except in one spot where my molars cross over funny and I have a couple of “fours” with the gums. THAT SAID as an adult I’ve done some professional social climbing of the academic sort (where, like on the internet, no one knows where you came from) and I find the marveling at my slightly skewy bottom incisors by people who grew up with more money and are appalled by my pretty darn decent reasonable looking teeth frankly fucking irritating. It gets my class warfare hackles up something mighty. “Why don’t you get braces!?!!?!?!?” they demand, and inside I think “Why don’t YOU fuck right off, bourgeois fuckie fuck fucks?” (of course the same people who refer to various things/practices I have loved all my life as ‘totally ghetto’) It’s definitely a class/upbringing divide, and I refuse to buy into it as a matter of conscience at this point. To me it’s such an insane priority, like having an exceedingly expensive car, or getting your cootch vajazzled. I mean, if someone has seriously medically keywhompus teeth that’s one thing, but the insistence on braces for slightly-out-of-true teeth at 38 years old as a signal of normative social class grates. And I feel very sorry for poor American kids growing up now as braces become more universal for middle-class-keeping-up-appearances-- just one more visible marker to “other” them as definitively underclass personae non grata. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/35 "2010-03-07T01:39:32Z")
As a Brit I try not to get insulted at the references to British teeth, even though it is a crass stereotype. As **Maastricht** says part of the difference between us and USians is that we don’t see off-white teeth as dirty, that’s what teeth look like. Regarding tooth shape, spacing, being rotten etc, it’s a complete myth that this is common in the UK, in fact according to [this article](http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=7933596&story_id=15060097) we actually have the best in the world. Note however the population sampled was twelve year olds - for older people it might very well be worse, partly due to age/lack of maintenance but also because dentistry wasn’t so high on the agenda in the past (I can imagine a lot of people growing up in the less afluent 70s and 80s just not bothering with it). This isn’t to say that there aren’t people with bad teeth in this country, because of course there are. My family who live in the west country have extremely bad teeth and in fact live up to the British dental stereotype perfectly. But the main factor there isn’t the fact that they’re British, it’s that they live in one of the poorest parts of the country and are themselves not that well off. I share the same genetic heritage but grew up in London in a better off family and so have perfectly well formed teeth (exceedingly so considering I never had braces or anything, I consider myself pretty lucky). My teeth aren’t glow in the dark white though because I refuse to pay to have them made that way, they look fine the way they are. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/36 "2010-03-07T01:40:21Z")
I’ve visited the dentist twice a year my whole life. I had a perfect dental record until about age 31, when I got my first filling and there was no question that I would pay for the more expensive white fillings. I would never have considered any kind of filling that looked like a filling – to me, metal or otherwise recognizable fillings would be unacceptable. But I’ve never had braces or caps or “veneer,” whatever that is. I agree with comments above that the picture of the guy whose lower teeth were darkened would be considered horrible here. Basically, teeth should look like healthy teeth. There should be no obvious signs of decay with no huge overlaps or large differences in size. They don’t, however, have to look geometrically straight and brilliant white. If you’re a model or someone appearing on television or in movies – the camera tends to draw attention to flaws, so the standards would be a bit higher there. Tom Cruise’s teeth pre-straightening were perfectly fine though, even for an actor. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/37 "2010-03-07T01:48:46Z")
Speaking of actors, Clive Owen got a veneer job a couple of years ago that was just horrendous. Too white, too big, too perfect. He looked like Ross on that episode of Friends with the blacklight. In his last few movies, his teeth look normal. There must be different levels of perfect that you can get with veneers. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/38 "2010-03-07T02:34:39Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > And if you have such veneers, do you need to go back to your dentist every year for touchups, and are those expensive, too? I had mine done about 20 years ago and I just lost a chip of veneer a few months ago. But normally you don’t have to go for regular touch-ups. My teeth were pretty bad, though, before I had them fixed. I’d had a lot of mouth and tooth problems growing up, worn braces for fifteen years, and still ended up having upper front teeth that were too short, giving me a vampire like appearance. I agree, though, a lot of the people’s teeth that you see in the “before” pictures don’t look that bad at all. I wouldn’t have gone to the bother and expense of veneers, if I’d had only a slight irregularity or discoloration. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/39 "2010-03-07T03:56:19Z")
My mom has perfect teeth. She had all implants put in a few years ago. They look great but it cost her a small fortune. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554/40 "2010-03-07T03:57:30Z")
Nothing demonstrates the difference in attitudes to teeth more to me than David Bowie’s (my teenage crush) To me the [original teeth](http://cdn2.maxim.com/blender/files/2008/02/21/snaggletoothrock/fs_worstTeethinRock_davidBowie.jpg) were beginning to look in need of care but with the [new ones](http://www.morethings.com/music/david_bowie/david-bowie-169.jpg) he’s just not my David any more, they just lack character \*and \*they look too big for his face. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-tell-me-about-the-social-significance-of-perfect-teeth-by-expensive-dentistry/531554.md?page=3)