# Why Do many Brits and Japanese have bad teeth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 13, 2012, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626 "2012-03-13T07:31:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/61 "2012-03-14T11:26:12Z")
> [@Corcaigh](#): > > I used to live in the UK, I had to go to the dentist (this would have been in the 70s) it was the single most terrifying, and painful, experience ever. The drill was deafeningly loud and the painkiller injection hurt like hell, and was completely ineffective. It was like something out of a cheap horror movie, you were sitting on a reclined chair, with a blinding light in your eyes, hands would appear bearing sharp objects that were jammed into your mouth and your screams were ignored. > > I know for a fact that I am not the only person to have been [mentally] scarred for life by a visit to the dentist, and not just that specific dentist. _They were all like that!!!_ > > I have a friend in England who is so scared of the dentist, she has to be under anaesthetic for just a check-up, and someone has to be in the room with her as she can and has kicked out at the dentist (even while she’s “out”) > > I have met many people in their 40s and 50s who have horrendously bad teeth, but won’t go to the dentist because they are too scared to. Ah yes, personal experience masquerading as fact. :smack: “They were all like that”, huh? :rolleyes: As this board is dedicated to fighting ignorance, I’ll mention that I am 58 years old and have experienced dentists in London and two country towns. All were National Health (so the treatment was covered by insurance), all were excellent and I have never had any pain. Apart from wisdom teeth, I still have all my teeth (none of them are whitened…) I teach at a school with over 1000 pupils and 150 staff. In discussions over 22 years with pupils, colleagues and parents, there has never been a single complaint about dentists. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/62 "2012-03-14T12:52:28Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Some pretty extreme opinons here. UK folk, it is hard to hear the assertion that crooked teeth are better, cooler, more masculine with a straight face. Saying you don’t care is believable, but saying you prefer wonky teeth just seems defensive. It’s not that we prefer _wonky_ teeth exactly, but we certainly do take the piss out of anyone who has them whitened or straightened when, by UK standards, they looked fine before. Someone I know, who used to have a gap between his front teeth, moved to the US for a while and got them ‘fixed’ over there- he is now known as ‘XXX with the teeth’, and gets quite a lot of (good natured as he’s a nice guy) ribbing over it. And yes, caring ‘too much’ about your appearance is commonly seen as ‘less masculine’ in Britain, especially when it involves spending large sums of money. This is a cultural difference, why is it hard to believe? Though come to think of it, women don’t get a pass on unnatural teeth either. My teeth overlap slightly at the front; no-one has ever mentioned it, including my dentist (never had a barbarian one either, though I have heard stories). I have no fillings; I have good teeth. Even if I magically became a billionaire, it would not occur to me to have them ‘fixed’. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/63 "2012-03-14T13:58:56Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Some pretty extreme opinons here. UK folk, it is hard to hear the assertion that crooked teeth are better, cooler, more masculine with a straight face. Saying you don’t care is believable, but saying you prefer wonky teeth just seems defensive. > > US folks, no need to assume anything about someone’s self esteem based on their teeth (and yes, I know they started it.) It isn’t the done thing in the UK, or at least not the paid for thing. Plus, my personal theory, too many Angles, Saxons, and Romans in the woodpile. It _is_ the done thing to get bad teeth fixed, actually. It’s just that a tiny amount of wonkiness is not considered that bad - though actually fixing that wonkiness is also covered under the NHS. I don’t think Brits should have to defend their dentistry when there’s no evidence that British teeth are actually worse. TBH, given the huge differences in costs for individuals needing their teeth fixed it seems likely that British poor people probably have better teeth. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/64 "2012-03-14T14:07:33Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Some pretty extreme opinons here. UK folk, it is hard to hear the assertion that crooked teeth are better, cooler, more masculine with a straight face. Saying you don’t care is believable, but saying you prefer wonky teeth just seems defensive. Now I’m afraid to admit that my face isn’t riddled with suppurating boils, lest I be derided for my “Hollywood skin.” ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/65 "2012-03-14T14:47:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Mike Myers plays two characters in the movie - Austin Powers and Dr Evil. One has bad, protruding teeth, the other does not. > > Nobody ever comments that Liz Hurley, the English actress who co-stars in that movie, has quite nice teeth, as also does Michael York, the English actor who plays Basil Exposition. Okay, I apologize. I was utterly wrong about Myer’s "stage prosthetic bad teeth had anything to do with the notion of British having bad teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/66 "2012-03-14T16:18:40Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Or they don’t have the discretionary income to spend on things like cosmetic dentistry, which is generally not covered by insurance. Naturally, that’s why I said people who have the option to but choose not to. If poverty is the issue, then those people don’t have a choice. But some of the responses in this thread seem to indicate that some people make a conscious choice not to fix their teeth even though they would have the means to do so. And those are the ones I was targeting with that statement. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/67 "2012-03-14T18:13:27Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > Okay, I apologize. > > I was utterly wrong about Myer’s "stage prosthetic bad teeth had anything to do with the notion of British having bad teeth. It is to do with the stereotype, but not the reality. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/68 "2012-03-14T18:49:00Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Oh, god. SDMB has now turned into [FARK.com](http://FARK.com). Insulting racial and national stereotypes FTW! > > I do not believe that your “friend in England” found a dentist willing to put her under for a mere check-up. I live in England and I know someone so phobic about dentists that she cannot bear to be in the same room as someone _talking_ about them and, yes, she does have to be sedated for a check-up. Personally, I think she is a drama queen and I’m phobic about dentists myself. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/69 "2012-03-14T18:50:47Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > It’s not that we prefer _wonky_ teeth exactly, but we certainly do take the piss out of anyone who has them whitened or straightened when, by UK standards, they looked fine before. Someone I know, who used to have a gap between his front teeth, moved to the US for a while and got them ‘fixed’ over there- he is now known as ‘XXX with the teeth’, and gets quite a lot of (good natured as he’s a nice guy) ribbing over it. Brit joke from years ago: - “The Osmonds: Seven human beings with eleven sets of teeth” ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/70 "2012-03-14T18:53:06Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > Is it just me or do you guys also notice many Brits and Japanese have bad teeth, particularly the front ones? > > What could be the reason?\* The same reason that all Americans are so fat? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/71 "2012-03-14T19:49:45Z")
> [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](#): > > The same reason that all Americans are so fat? 😃 I wanted to say that. Probably a bad idea on an American forum though. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/72 "2012-03-14T19:59:09Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > I wanted to say that. Probably a bad idea on an American forum though. I can only speak for myself but I’m pretty sure most of us won’t be offended since we are all well aware of the fact that we probably have the most fat people on Earth and in history. BTW doesn’t that one dude on British version of Top Gear have pretty… teeth? A serious question: would any American TV producer put a host on their show with his teeth? ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/73 "2012-03-14T20:09:34Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > I can only speak for myself but I’m pretty sure most of us won’t be offended since we are all well aware of the fact that we probably have the most fat people on Earth and in history. Oh, plenty do. > [@](#): > > BTW doesn’t that one dude on British version of Top Gear have pretty… teeth? A serious question: would any American TV producer put a host on their show with his teeth? That’s a joke. Clarkson is obviously - and proud of - not concerned about his appearance and considers even combing your hair to be effeminate. Most people on British TV have American style teeth. The presenters, at least. Obviously not the cast of Eastenders, who are supposed to look poor. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/74 "2012-03-14T21:25:29Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > I wanted to say that. Probably a bad idea on an American forum though. Don’t worry. WE know how to laugh at ourselves. ---
**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 14, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/75 "2012-03-14T21:26:30Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > That’s a joke. Clarkson is obviously - and proud of - not concerned about his appearance and considers even combing your hair to be effeminate. And they took the piss out of Hamster endlessly when he had his teeth whitened. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/76 "2012-03-14T21:37:38Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Don’t worry. WE know how to laugh at ourselves. Britain: a humourless wasteland. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/77 "2012-03-14T21:38:24Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > [etc](http://www.japanprobe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/yaeba.jpg), [etc](http://www.cammyfan.com/weekly-rant/teeth.jpg), [etc](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hdMWb_HMuzo/SgfyAO4Yx1I/AAAAAAAADdM/zS3kYE-w0oM/s320/nagasakirina.jpg),[etc](http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/in-japan-theres-a-trend-to-make-straight-teeth-crooked-are-you-attracted-to-physical-imperfection/question-2240591/?page=4&link=ibaf&q=japanese%2Bbad%2Bteeth%2Bimages&imgurl=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ocC4LGQZwEs/SgfxRQUPqkI/AAAAAAAAKHE/9bh90ujWZo4/s400/yaeba046.jpg)". > > - Well these four are because in Japan the protruding eye-tooth is considered a ‘charm’ - similar to dimples or Cindy Crawford/Marilyn Monroe’s mole - you certainly wouldn’t want either of those ladies to remove their trademark beauty mark - Japanese ladies wouldn’t want to remove their beauty mark either. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/78 "2012-03-14T21:40:17Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Don’t worry. WE know how to laugh at ourselves. Point is… We aren’t going to laugh at a stereotype uniquely ascribed by Americans which we don’t think is true. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/79 "2012-03-14T21:43:59Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > And they took the piss out of Hamster endlessly when he had his teeth whitened. So does that indicate British going Hollywood? If people on media all have white and straight teeth, I’d think it would affect the norm sorta like the skinny model phenomena. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626/80 "2012-03-14T21:50:00Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Well these four are because in Japan the protruding eye-tooth is considered a ‘charm’ - similar to dimples or Cindy Crawford/Marilyn Monroe’s mole - you certainly wouldn’t want either of those ladies to remove their trademark beauty mark - Japanese ladies wouldn’t want to remove their beauty mark either. Well, that was the aim of this thread, ie, to figure out why there is such notion about exclusively these two country folks whether it is true or stereotype. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-brits-and-japanese-have-bad-teeth/615626.md?page=5)