These days people in North America mostly look almost the same as people here in Britain. Once there were subtle differences in how people dressed, but these are fading quickly as popular culture becomes more and more globalised. There are more overweight people across the Atlantic, but even that difference is disappearing as Americans become more conscious of health issues.
But a difference quickly appears when people smile. For one thing, Americans smile much more often than we British do. Whenever you meet someone in the States you see a flash of white teeth. Not so here in England: a blank expression or a frown is more common. And when you do see a rare smile, it is usually not even and white but crooked and yellow. Even our celebrities have less than perfect smiles:
American (L) and British (R) smiles: From top left, by row, Missy Elliot, Jessica Simpson, Ricky Gervais, Tony Blair, John Travolta, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matt Lucas, Victoria Beckham, Kate Bosworth, Brandon Routh, David Walliams, Elton John, Tom Cruise, Megan Gale, Mick Jagger and Robbie Williams
Yes, the biggest difference between the British and the Americans is in their teeth.
In the 1st century AD the Roman author Martial wrote [1]:
Thais has black, Laecania white teeth; what is the reason? Thais has her own, Laecania bought ones.
We can see the same contrast today, at least if we replace “black” with “yellow” or “grey”, with Thais being typical of us British and Laecania of Americans. And the reason is the same: the American Laecanias are paying good money for their good teeth.
This is surely something to do with the British mentality of the last half century. We have been brought up to expect the government to look after our health, including our teeth, through the National Health Service. We resent having to pay £16.50 for a check-up and £45.60 for a whole course of fillings [2]. The private dental sector has been growing rapidly over the last few decades, now treating 27% of adults [3], but the standards of treatment offered by the NHS are still considered the rule.
There are strict limits to which dental treatments are available on the NHS [4]:
Dental implants and orthodontic treatment, such as braces, are available on the NHS, but only if there’s a medical need for the treatment. …
NHS dental treatment does not include cosmetic treatments that are not clinically necessary, such as teeth whitening or veneers.
In addition, NHS fillings and crowns are metallic, not white like real teeth. So, while the health of British teeth has improved rapidly over the last few decades, their outward appearance has not. If anything appearances have got worse, because not so many people have lost all their teeth and so are wearing full dentures.
By contrast, most North Americans expect to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on dental treatment. Total dental care expenditure in the USA is around $100 billion per year, or more than $300 per person per year. A comparable figure for the UK, including NHS expenditure, is around £7 billion or a little over £100 per person per year. But NHS patients in England only pay only about £600 million, so less than £20 per year for each person not using a private dentist [5].
So the Americans are copying Laecania by buying teeth. What are they spending their money on? Fillings and crowns are of course white by default. Even slightly crooked teeth are corrected with braces and other orthodontic procedures. But the main difference from British dentistry is surely in the regular use of two kinds of procedure, dental implants and teeth whitening.
All of these procedures are available here in the UK. And they don’t have to cost a fortune. Follow the links below to find out more about what can be done.
- Dental implants (in preparation)
- Teeth whitening (in preparation)
Some people might wonder whether it is right to spend money on cosmetic dentistry of this kind. Of course it would not be good to put this above the necessities of family life, or above generous giving to good causes. Nor should anyone go into significant debt just to get their teeth looking nice. Also it is not good to be obsessive about these matters. But surely it is just as valid a choice for people who do have some spare money as spending that cash on luxury holidays or cars.
In addition, cosmetic dentistry can be really useful for some people. It can greatly boost their self-esteem. It can help them to get jobs for which appearances are important. Also it can put a smile in their heart and give them the confidence to express it with their lips. A few more smiles all round will help to make Britain a better place!
[1] Epigrams Book 5, XLIII, translation from Bohn’s Classical Library (1897) adapted by Roger Pearse. [2] These are the current NHS dental charges in England. Under 18′s and some others pay nothing. [3] Figure for 2009, for adults with some teeth, from the official Adult Dental Health Survey 2009. [4] NHS web page Which dental treatments are available on the NHS? [5] National Dental Care Expenditures 1960-2007 (USA); Total spending on UK dentistry increased by 4% to £6965 million and NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2009/10 (UK).
I read with interest your comment about what the NHS will and will not cover, and that those standards pretty much determine what your teeth look like.
Here in the US, we have recently passed something commonly called Obamacare. It is supposed to give us better, cheaper medical care of all kinds. Many of us are hoping, praying, and working to get this monstrosity repealed.
I expect you have heard about this before now, but just wanted to post it fyi in case you are wondering about this subject across the pond.
Galveston, I have heard about “Obamacare”. Indeed I welcomed last year in a post Congratulations, USA, on healthcare reform. Since then I have learned more about the weaknesses of the specific scheme and understand the need to reform and improve it. However, I would consider it a complete blasphemy against the Christian God for anyone to PRAY(!) for repeal and so a return to “the scandal of the poor dying uncared for at the rich man’s gate”.
You have been poorly informed.
Over here, no one has been deprived of needed medical attention. There are various sources of help and if all else fails, no hospital can refuse to treat anyone, even illegal immigrants. Obamacare is scheduled to take $500 billion out of Medicare (seniors medical care) and transfer it to Medicade in an effort to put everyone on a single-payer system. There are horrible provisions in this bill, including various taxes that have nothing to do with medical care. Perhaps the most frightening thing is that doctors will have their pay severely cut, and many have already said they will retire or change professions. We barely have enough doctors for the patient load now. When we lose the (expected) 40% of doctors and add millions to the patient load, it will become impossible for some patients to receive treatment.
And finally, we are broke and cannot afford the trillions this will cost this country. Our health system needs reforming, but Obamacare is not the answer. So I think it is OK to pray for its repeal.
Well, Galveston, I hardly expected you to agree with me. But as I understand it “no one has been deprived of needed medical attention” used to apply only to emergency room care, not to care for life-threatening diseases like cancer. I would be happy to pray with you for reform of Obamacare, to overcome its weaknesses, but not for its repeal.
I don’t know what your news source over there, but if it is telling you that Obamacare is a good law, then my gentle suggestion is that you incorporate some different news sources into the mix.
Obamacare was written in secret without any input from Republicans who were excluded from the process. The only reason it passed was Democrat majorities in both houses. It is 2200+ pages long, and Speaker of the House (at the time), Nancy Pelosi said “We have to pass it so we can find out what is in it.” Unfortunately, that is not a joke, I heard her say it. As it stands, it will cost trillions of dollars that cannot be found, it will place the government in control of all health care, decide who gets treatment or not and reduce the number of doctors. Our old system did not decide whether grandma gets cancer treatment or not based on her age. Obamacare does.
I realize that you live in a country that is already pretty socialistic, so may not think it is a big deal.
There is one provision that imposes a 15% tax (I think that is the %) on your home when you sell it. What does that have to do with health care?
I have heard that you have long wait times for many procedures over there. So far, over here, you can be seen in a timely manner.
Trust me, no one here has been dying in the streets because no health care is available to them.
Poor people have Medicade and SSI. Consider adding Fox News to your input.
Blessings, and Maranatha
Galveston, as I said, I would be very happy for the bill to be revised, and for the result truly to be as rosy as Fox News says the old system was like.
Your old system decided whether grandma got her cancer care based on her bank balance and her luck with insurance companies. Is that more fair?
Our system is not perfect either. But the long waits are only for non-urgent treatment, and are much shorter than they were a few years ago.
Well, I’ve never heard Fox news personalities describe current health care as “rosy”, but Obamacare will cost unbelievable amounts of money without helping the situation. Both my father and my wife’s father died of colorectal cancer. Neither were wealthy and both got care under medicare. It didn’t save their lives though. Dad was 81 and my father-in-law was 83.
Those praying for repeal of Obamacare are convinced that there are far better ways to overhaul the system, and in fact, candidates vying for the Republican nomination have advanced more than one plan to do that without nationalizing health care or breaking the bank. Obamacare is opposed by the majority of Americans. Stay tuned for further developments.
Maranatha.
Galveston, as I have said before, if a new President can put forward a better plan to replace Obamacare, I would be all in favour. What I oppose is a simple repeal of Obamacare and a return to the previous unsatisfactory situation.
By the way I don’t trust Fox News. There is good evidence that News Corporation has a worldwide agenda which is threatened by Obama. And here in the UK its newspapers have been caught out using illegal telephone tapping to forward that agenda.
According to a report in by Newsmax, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) found that 97% of doctors treat medicade patients every day in their emergency departments because the patients can not find a doctor who will treat them for what medicade pays. They further state that Obamacare will result in more, not fewer emergency room visits.
I have watched for decades as the news media in this country lied to us. They did not tell us lies, they just didn’t tell us the facts. They lied by omission. Fox news is the best we have here, all the others have forsaken honest journalism.
Galveston, I don’t think I would trust any of the news media on an issue like this. They are all pursuing one agenda or another. But there must be another way to treat chronically ill patients than for them to visit the ER regularly. If Obamacare makes this problem worse, then it needs replacing with something that makes this problem better.
Off topic, Peter, but are you familiar with http://www.s8int.com? There is a ton of fascinating stuff there.
Galveston, can I suggest that you read my new post Can “creation science” prove evolution?, consider it carefully, and then perhaps post this link there, where it would be closer to the topic.
I read the evolution vs creation blog. Same old never-ending argument there.
I’m not too savvy on some of these posting things, yet. What did you want me to post where?
Well, my dentist husband would say, “All they need to do is brush their teeth properly!”. Seriously, fluoride in the water and dental education is going to do a lot more good than the aftercare.
Hooverdamsel, are you aware that fluoride is a thyroid suppressant? We dump thyroid suppressant into the drinking water and then wonder why there is so much obesity. Check it out.
Hooverdamsel, I’m sure we would all have much better teeth with better care. Galveston, if what you say is true there is obviously a need for a proper balance of fluoride.
If you doubt what I said about fluroide, do a web search on it. It is poison to the human body. The ONLY tooth benefit is when it is applied topically. I have read up on it because I have low thyroid function. I know one man who grew up in west Texas and his teeth are mottled by natural fluroide in the water. I seriously doubt if there is ANY safe level of this substance.
Oh dear, that is weighing into a huge debate. The one thing any dentist will tell you though is that the volume of empirical evidence is hugely on the side of having a dose of fluoride in the water supplies. There are some studies against fluoride but scientifically these have been debunked. Sorry, you’re talking to a girl with perfect teeth due to fluoride tabs and a husband who is a dentist who had to research the subject.
Thank you, Hooverdamsel. I don’t think this is the place to go any more deeply into this controversy.
I am really sick of this type of article/debate, as it is just a stereotype! I know nobody will look at the links or believe them as it ruins the sense of superiority!
AMERICANS HAVE WORSE TEETH – READ THE FACTS!
http://www.economist.com/node/15060097?subjectid=7933596&story_id=15060097
http://www.mah.se/CAPP/Country-Oral-Health-Profiles/According-to-Alphabetical/CountryArea-U/
Look at the above links as they are based on actual scientific fact rather than outdated racial stereotypes.
British teeth were bad, but more for people born before 1960. In fact America’s children have nearly DOUBLE the rate of missing, decayed or filled teeth than British children.
I know USA is a very vapid, image obsessed society where no celebrity on TV appears with any imperfection. However they are not representative of real society. Please watch old British sitcoms from the 1960′s in order to retain a sense of dental superiority.
p.s. fluoridating the water is not necessary since there is enough in toothpaste already. After many European countries stopped fluoridating the water, decay rates remained stable.
It is obvious Americans will have worse teeth as on average, you drink too many fizzy drinks and eat too poor a diet. This is why African rates of tooth decay are pretty low (despite them not going to see their dentist every 2 weeks at $1000 dollars a pop or whatever exorbitant prices are paid)!
Also too many of you whiten your teeth beyond levels possible in nature. This is why you see normal teeth as unhealthy. This is what happens when you have privatised healthcare where big money is the goal. Dentists in USA tell people their teeth are terrible and need whitening etc to make more money, often when they do not even need the work.
Simon, thank you for your interesting perspective on this. But it doesn’t actually contradict what I wrote. Yes, Americans’ teeth decay more than British ones, and I’m sure their diet is largely responsible. But the statistics show that, on average, they spend a lot more than Brits on repairing, replacing and whitening those bad teeth. And I would not dispute your suggestion that much of that spending is because dentists sell unnecessary work for their own profit.