Americans and the English. Bad Teeth?

Question

Americans do have better teeth. However, they also have far worse teeth. We English receive free dental care and there are twenty percent of American adults with no insurance.

Why do American visitors of this site say we have bad teeth? They watch it on TV and assume it?

(The same applies to their view of their nation's teeth.)

I guess my question is "How could a whole nation allow themselves to continually believe everything they see on TV?" ie.:-

Weapons of mass destruction.

The war's not about oil.

Guns don't cause death. People do! (I don't believe Americans are just evil and that's why they have the highest murder rate on the planet.)

Bush won in Florida (how can that be allowed? in the US?!)

Oh yeah, Everyone hates Americans. (not true)

Blacks in the US are treated the same

Americans are intrinsically better people

Evil is inate.

We attend church every week or more (those surveyed were watched and found to be lying mostly, they said after, because it was the American way.)

Answer 1

Sorry - I could not get past the free dental care in the UK?

Where is this free dentist?

Average charge of £40.00 each visit, unless you don't work?

Answer 2

I agree where are the free dentists :S

Answer 3

suki boo is right, only kids gte free dental care, which i do, but my mum always has to pay for hers

Answer 4

I'm not really sure what you are getting at.  I agree with a lot of what you are saying but not all.  And there is no way that only 20 percent of us don't have health insurance.  I know it is way more than that.  I don't think you have been to America lately.  It is a lot more liberal than it used to be.  I believe for the most part black people are treated equally.  I think women have it worse than black people.  Are you saying the war is about oil?  Because that I agree with.  War makes rich people a lot of money.  Oil and greed are the only reasons we are still over there.  I could go on discussing this entire list but again I'm not sure where the question lies.  If you want to go over some of these topics shoot me an email.

Answer 5

i think they are on the defensive,i think they know most of the world hates them so they say we are jealous,or that they dont care,ive had answers that i havent been there and dont know what a great country it is,i can honestly say i never want to go there,it is decadent,i think usa is a very selfish nation with too much of everything and wanting more i think they have caused so much damage to OUR WORLD,i think they think they own the world,they only bomb small countries ,no one their own size,i cant believe they dont know this so no wonder they go on the defensive

Answer 6

Dental care is free until your 18, then you have to pay through the nose (or teeth).

People do beleive what they hear on TV, doesnt matter what country your from. Thats why people in the UK are terrified of being stabbed or having their kids abducted by a child molester. Even if you live in the safest part of the country and your kid looks like a hat full of ar*eholes.

Coincidently, I'm from the uk and I have bad teeth. Some got craked and chipped from playing rugby but I dont really care, I can still eat.

Answer 7

Free dental care and your teeth look like that...i think you should have left that out.. the fact that you have free healthcare is making your argument weaker beacuse you should have a whole nation of perfect teeth people, but when ithink of Europeans i think of the spoof the spy who shagged me and a couple of other bad mouth people..hahahahaha

Answer 8

I THINK the whole "bad teeth" thing is because more Americans get their teeth reshaped and lots of cosmetic stuff done with them than you folks do. (I hadn't heard this whole thing until I started being on this site, and this is what I've sort of picked up from teeth comments.)

Uh, it's simply not true that every American believes everything we see on TV. As far as Iraq, many of us knew BushCo was lying.

Many of us support gun control -- in fact, more support than oppose it, but the few who oppose it own our politicians.

Not sure what you know about 2000 election. Yes, it's scandelous. The Republicans in charge of their election had Democrats removed from the voter lists for no real reason; thus, they were able to steal that state, and, given the way the Electoral College thingy works, the presidency.

And, yes, I'm still bitter about that, and about the stolen election of 2004, and all the damage Bush has done to us and to so many all over the world.

I've long been aware of anti-US sentiment, and of WHY so many feel that way (such as our support of corrupt and brutal governents all over the world).

Many of us realize that we don't yet have genuine equality for all.

Not all of us buy the notion of evil (which is a religious concept, really); many of us understand that other people aren't inherently eviler than we are.

I have long been disgusted by the notion that American lives are more important than everyone else's life. Many of us get that, and reject the idea that we're intrinsically better; or that our country is the only "free" country (haven't seen that one, I take it, as you didn't list it).

Uh, my understanding is that church attendence has been going down for quite some time. A minority claim regular church-going. Dunno where you got the idea we all say we go to church every week.

Myself, I've never been to church (except for a couple of weddings and one funeral -- whoops! sounds like a movie). I'm not the only atheist in the US, either.

So, us, given YOUR misconceptions about us, is it really that surprising many Americans have misconceptions about others?

After all, we have a much crappier educational system to blame for it.

;-)

Answer 9

Britain DOES have free dentistry, but because of labour giving them a terrible deal, most of them have now switched to private only - and who could blame them. Free dentistry does still exist, but it is reserved for the poor  - and so it should be!!. (I am fairly well off but don't complain about paying for dental care, and will hapilly pay taxes if it means that poor people can get the free care they need) - I love my private dentist - excellent service and care. No matter if you can get an NHS dentist or not, in a real dental emergency, you will be treated for free no matter what - an excellent idea indeed.

As regards to the whole American education subject, not all Americans believe all these things. The intelligent people (like in any country) know that the TV is not the truth. Americans hold the English in generally high regard.

Of course the American government (just like the Biritsh government) treats people like idiots.

They say they want to rid places like Iraq of tyranny, but where are they (and the British government) when it comes to rescuing places like Zimbabwe?. There is no oil (oil is also known to the government as tyranny) in Zimbabwe.

Where were the American government when New Orleans got flooded??. But as soon as California gets wild fires (where the rich live) the government pile in to save them and say "aren't we good". They think that people are stupid and won't see all of this.

My wife is American, and I am British. The only thing that I will say about their education system is that she only started to learn the true history of the world - and even her own country! - when she came to live in Britain with me! - what more can I say?.

That said, everyone in America knows who Churchil was. Yet there are a huge amount of British kids who think he is nothing more than a little dog on a car insurance advert. Talk about forgetting the horrors of the second world war! - disgusting!.

Answer 10

Far too many people believe what they see on TV - - Americans included.

As an aside - I wouldn't want to pay your taxes so everyone could have "free" healthcare.  Then again, I am employed, my employer provides insurance for medical, dental, and vision at no cost to me and I'm crazy about taking care of my teeth - - there are Americans that I wish I could ask to keep their mouths shut because I don't want to look at their teeth!  But it is a stereotype that the English have bad teeth.

Answer 11

I trained as a Dental Nurse in the UK, and have worked in NHS and Private practice.

I would not say that the English have worse teeth no more than people in the US.  I've seen awful dental hygiene and people that have required root treatments and crowns because they have left problems for too long.  However I think people are more educated with regards to dental care now.

As far as free dental treatment goes, that is only for pregnant women, people under the age of 18 in full time education, sometimes after this if they go on to Uni. People that are receiving benefits also qualify for free dental treatment.  The rest of us have to pay, if we are lucky enough to find an NHS Dentist this is at a reduced rate.  If not and you have to attend a Private Practice then you are looking at paying a hefty bill depending on the treatment.

I would say that the USA lean very much towards cosmetic dentistry, more so than preventative.