08 Jan

Debunked: British Dental Hygiene Stereotype Falls Flat

Well it looks like we as Americans can no longer claim the upper hand on the British in the world of dentistry. They already have the cooler sounding accents, and according to a recent study they aren’t lagging behind Americans in the dental hygiene department now, either. (At least we still won the war!) While Dr. Norton and the team at Lifetime Family Dental are doing our part to make sure our patients’ dental hygiene is world class, it appears the old stereotype of Americans having nicer teeth than the English on average isn’t true.

Teams from the US and the UK looked at data on thousands of people from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the English Adult Dental Health Survey. Factors taken into account included perception of oral health, missing teeth, avoiding smiling, difficulty eating and social effects. The results actually revealed that people in the US generally had a higher number of missing teeth (7.31 vs 6.97). Despite popular belief and stereotypes like the character “Austin Powers”, Americans do not on average have nicer smiles. However, the British did report more discomfort and toothaches.

Want to get the advantage back on our old rivals in Britain? Make sure you’re brushing twice a day for a full two minutes, and flossing once daily. Also, schedule your dental appointment in Gilbert today to do your part in assuring that by the time the next study comes out, Americans will have the nicer teeth!

Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (1/08/2016) Newsbie Pix(Flickr)