Why do British people have such bad teeth?

Actually, I was just visiting London and was amazed how much better their teeth looked from years ago

She looks more like American Appalachian.

She looks like Taryn Manning.

We Brits consider crooked teeth as cute and much better than the enormous whiter than white tombstones that Americans have.

Big Dentistry enforces social pressure on Americans.

Lmao!

What are you saying? I just do not see it.

Bonus bits of bangers and mash when they snog!

Fluoridated water.

Socialised Healthcare. One 'poor' service for all system. Say no more.

From Family Guy:

Meg: "Death, can you kill all of the girls prettier than me?"

Death: "Sure but that would leave most of the women in Britain."

It has nothing to do with socialized medicine.

The older generation that grew up* without fluoridated water (pre-1964) had horrible teeth--just like every other country without artificially or naturally-occurring fluoridated water.

*If you don't ingest fluoride as a child, it's downhill.

Teeth whitening in London is £800-1000. Not something the average Brit can afford every year. Is orthodontics covered by the NHS in the UK?

No, R12. Only basic care is covered and even then a lot of people have to pay at least a certain amount. Children get free dentistry and orthodontic care. People on benefits and the elderly or sick get free dentistry and orthodontic care which is deemed necessary. Anything considered cosmetic has to be fully funded.

Of course in the US, there are cases of kids dying because of dental infections that go untreated because they don’t have access to dental care

Because dentistry is expensive.

I've heard it's a genetic thing with the Celtic nations (UK, Ireland, parts of Spain and France). Small jawbones lead to teeth overcrowding.

The English are not Celtic they are Anglo-Saxon.

The US has much worse dental hygiene than Brits, OP. Google the statistics.

As stated above, it’s definitely fluoride in the water that has saved them the last couple of decades. I live in London now and most people have good teeth.

The teeth in the two pics above are freakish and unrepresentative of the UK in general.

Class is a big factor and it's considered quite common to have bright white gnashers.

Teeth are generally considered functional rather than cosmetic and as such British people look after them but have never spent huge amounts of money getting them perfected. People like Simon Cowell and Rylan Clark (pictured below) are more likely to be ridiculed for their teeth than complimented.

More subtle changes like Kate Beckinsale and Victoria Beckham are more acceptable, not that Beckham ever lets anyone see hers.

Oh Christ!

R18, is correct, this is one of those tropes that will never die, because the belief is integral to the American character.

Healthcare is cheaper, on average, than the U.S. that includes dentistry. There is a £270 limit on non-cosmetic dental care, that covers x-rays, scaling, root canals, crowns etc. Cosmetic dentistry is not covered.

Every child can have free dental care, people simply don't do it. Including orthodonture. Poverty is a defining factor as to the health of teeth, the same as any many other health outcomes.

Fluoridation is less effective than a low sugar diet, regular brushing and flossing and a healthy diet. It is not an unequivocally the best method to prevent tooth decay.

Britain shares the top spot for fewest cavities.

America is at the bottom. This won't change many of your opinion, because Americans are fanatics.

I'm an American, but I have a British sensibility when it comes to teeth in that I don't think they need to be iridescent white and perfectly straight. My top teeth are pretty straight as it is, and the bottom ones are a bit crowded, but it seems an irrelevant thing to worry about. I brush them twice a day, floss, and take care of them, but I don't want nor need teeth that look like dentures. In the picture R20 posted, I think the guy looks better on the left than on the right; the fake teeth make him look like a Ken doll. It's repulsive.

Ah, here we go again. Another old tale that many consider to be true. I suppose OP you think that the English like their beer warm? Disturbing to think that you're concerned about the nature of the teeth from people who you will never see in person.

Perhaps I've not paid attention, but I've not seen anyone in the UK or Ireland with really awful teeth. Though perhaps not so many perfect smiles that you might find in parts of the U.S.

Because not everyone can be Ivanka Trump, or any Trump for that matter!

Freakishly big, freakishly white glow-in-the-dark porcelain “teeth” are a hallmark of rich Americans.

Look at what that troll Milo Yiannopoulos did to himself trying to “fix” his teeth. He turned himself into a donkey to try to give himself a mouth like this.

I’m American but I find the “perfect” teeth of the US to be a fucked-up convention. Every time I go abroad and look at a TV, the first thing I notice is that people on TV have normal, human teeth, and I realize how odd our country is in its facades—fake teeth, fake boobs, Botox and fillers that make people in the media look like accident victims or beauty pageant contestants. Fucked up. And why is it a requirement that every tooth on the top has to be gigantic and white and perfectly aligned, but the bottom set can be as fucked up as any British teeth and no one ever notices?

As for British teeth, yes, I’ve read that they’re often crowded because of British wheat-based agricultural diets. The jawbone shrunk from malnutrition and a lessened need to chew meat, and the teeth had nowhere to settle and so they are displaced. Nations with more varied diets tend to have more evenly spaced teeth.

These are “British teeth” of the sort people mock. Since it’s Milo Yiannopoulos, by all means—mock away.

These are his, ahem, “improved” American-style teeth.

Why is this better than the originals? They’re straight, white, bigger. But better? Really?

Teeth of an American “billionaire’s” son.

Are these better than British teeth?

Kate Bush, 1979, pure Brit, pre-modern demands for denture-like teeth. Are these terrible?

Young Sting. What’s wrong with the teeth?

Young Annie Lennox.

The stereotype doesn’t hold a lot of water. It’s probably mostly poor Brits who can’t access great cosmetic dental care who have bad teeth. Like Americans in rural and urban areas who don’t have dental coverage.

“The average American is missing 7.31 teeth, compared to 6.97 in England, and the stateside poor are a whole tooth behind their counterparts in this country, according a paper in The BMJ entitled Austin Powers Bites Back.

“It does put the stereotype to bed…“

YES, ALL British people have teeth like that. Tom Holland, Taron Egerton, Adele, the cast of Hollyoaks, all of the British actors on American TV shows

It's 2019 and you're still carrying this stereotype?

It’s all OP has r33.