History Main / BritishTeeth

-->'''Daphne:''' Bloody hell! Five days after Christmas is over and I'm still getting these cards! They do it on purpose, you know. It's always from someone you forgot, and then it's too late to send one back, then they sneer at you for the rest of the year! ''(reads card)'' "Peace and Goodwill," my ass! You just lost yourself a customer, Dr. Naran S. Gupta, D.D.S.! \\

--> '''Chris Farley''': And it tastes great on a cracker!

--> Belphegor. The boy (you certainly can't call him a man) is a classic product of the British dental system. Not only does he have rodent-worthy buck teeth, but the rest of his teeth are also either irregular or repaired with obvious silver fillings.
%%* WebVideo/EmmaBlackery

--> '''Iron Man:''' Check out your teeth. What are we, in England?

* This happens to nearly the whole cast in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' when Timmy accidentally prevents the Revolutionary War from happening and causes the USA to remain an English colony.

The reasoning behind this trope has its [[AccidentalPun roots]] largely in [[ValuesDissonance cultural differences]]. In the United States, having bad teeth is associated with extreme poverty, slovenliness, and/or [[DrugsAreBad drug addiction]]. Braces are [[PubescentBraces a rite of passage for American teenagers]] whose parents can afford them. Thus there is an enormous cultural stigma to not having perfect teeth. In Britain on the other hand, for various reasons, there is no such class stigma. Indeed the reverse seems to be true: having one's teeth artificially straightened and/or whitened is considered the height of vanity, and cosmetically perfect teeth are often considered [[UncannyValley unsettling]]. The American emphasis on flawless teeth is viewed as an expensive indulgence in the UK, the sort of thing that only "Essex girls" (Americans, think ''Series/JerseyShore'') get done. [[note]]Though Britain does have a cosmetic dental industry that would love nothing more than to remedy this...lamentable state of affairs[[/note]]

The reasoning behind this trope has its [[AccidentalPun roots]] largely in [[ValuesDissonance cultural differences]]. In the United States, having bad teeth is associated with extreme poverty, slovenliness, and/or [[DrugsAreBad drug addiction]]. Braces are [[PubescentBraces a rite of passage for American teenagers]] whose parents can afford them. Thus there is an enormous cultural stigma to not having perfect teeth. In Britain on the other hand, for various reasons, there is no such class stigma. Indeed the reverse seems to be true: having one's teeth artificially straightened and/or whitened is considered the height of vanity, and cosmetically perfect teeth are often considered [[UncannyValley unsettling]]. The American emphasis on flawless teeth is viewed as an expensive indulgence in the UK, the sort of thing that only "Essex girls" (Americans, think Jersey Shore) get done. [[note]]Though Britain does have a cosmetic dental industry that would love nothing more than to remedy this...lamentable state of affairs[[/note]]

* James Clavell {{Lampshades}} the disgusting state of British teeth in the nineteenth century in his novel of Hong Kong, ''Literature/TaiPan''. The fact the hero takes care of his teeth -- something he learnt from the Chinese -- is seen as an aberration, of his "going native". Meanwhile his rival actually ''dies'' of bad teeth: an untreated abscess he is "toughening out" and disregarding turns into blood poisoning. Everyone else is waiting eagerly for the day when the last few stumps can be pulled out and they'll get dentures.

* Sir Raleigh of ''Videogame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'' is a Welsh frog who boasts some horrific dental hygiene in his intro cutscene.

* The page image comes from [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E17LastExitToSpringfield one episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', in which a dentist [[ScareEmStraight terrifies]] Ralph Wiggum into healthy dental habits by showing him a book titled "The Big Book of of [''sic''] British Smiles".

The reasoning behind this trope has its [[AccidentalPun roots]] largely in [[ValuesDissonance cultural differences]]. In the United States, having bad teeth is associated with extreme poverty, slovenliness, and/or [[DrugsAreBad drug addiction]]. Braces are [[PubescentBraces a rite of passage for American teenagers]] whose parents can afford them. Thus there is an enormous cultural stigma to not having perfect teeth. In Britain on the other hand, for various reasons, there is no such class stigma. Indeed the reverse seems to be true: having one's teeth artificially straightened and/or whitened is considered the height of vanity, and cosmetically perfect teeth are often considered [[UncannyValley unsettling]]. The American emphasis on flawless teeth is viewed as an expensive indulgence, the sort of thing that only "Essex girls" (Americans, think Jersey Shore) get done. [[note]]Though Britain does have a cosmetic dental industry that would love nothing more than to remedy this...lamentable state of affairs[[/note]]

The reasoning behind this trope has its [[AccidentalPun roots]] largely in [[ValuesDissonance cultural differences]]. In the United States, having bad teeth is associated with extreme poverty, slovenliness, and/or [[DrugsAreBad drug addiction]]. Braces are [[PubescentBraces a rite of passage for American teenagers]] whose parents can afford them. Thus there is an enormous cultural stigma to not having perfect teeth. In Britain on the other hand, for various reasons, there is no such class stigma. Indeed the reverse seems to be true: having one's teeth artificially straightened and/or whitened is considered the height of vanity, and cosmetically perfect teeth are often considered [[UncannyValley unsettling]]. The American emphasis on flawless teeth is viewed as an expensive indulgence, or slighly snobbily as the sort of thing that only "Essex girls" (Americans, think Jersey Shore) get done. [[note]]Though Britain does have a cosmetic dental industry that would love nothing more than to remedy this...lamentable state of affairs[[/note]]

The reasoning behind this trope has its [[AccidentalPun roots]] largely in [[ValuesDissonance cultural differences]]. In the United States, having bad teeth is associated with extreme poverty, slovenliness, and/or [[DrugsAreBad drug addiction]]. Braces are [[PubescentBraces a rite of passage for American teenagers]] whose parents can afford them. Thus there is an enormous cultural stigma to not having perfect teeth. In Britain on the other hand, for various reasons, there is no such class stigma. Indeed the reverse seems to be true: having one's teeth artificially straightened and/or whitened is considered the height of vanity, and cosmetically perfect teeth are often considered [[UncannyValley unsettling]]. The American emphasis on flawless teeth is viewed as an expensive indulgence, or slighly snobbily as the sort of thing that only "Essex girls" (Americans, think Jersey Shore) get done. [[note]]Though Britain does have a cosmetic dental industry that would love nothing more than to remedy this "lamentable" state of affairs[[/note]]

The reason for Britain's more lax standards on dental beauty are probably related to the National Health Service (NHS). Basic dentistry is only partly covered by the NHS and the cosmetic side isn't covered at all; to sum it up, the NHS is only concerned with making sure your teeth are healthy, not pretty. British people tend to resent having to pay ''anything'' for medical care, leaving cosmetic dentistry lower on their order of priorities than in other countries. But as far as actual dental health goes, [[http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=7933596&story_id=15060097 a 2009 study by the OECD]] found that the UK, ironically, has the healthiest teeth in the industrialized world, ahead of the United States even, something backed up by a [[http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/dec/17/british-teeth-us-dentistry-oral-health 2015 study for the British Medical Journal.]]

The reason for Britain's more lax standards on dental beauty are probably related to the National Health Service (NHS). Basic dentistry is only partly covered by the NHS and the cosmetic side isn't covered at all; to sum it up, the NHS is only concerned with making sure your teeth are healthy, not pretty. British people tend to resent having to pay ''anything'' for medical care, leaving cosmetic dentistry lower on their order of priorities than in other countries. But as far as actual dental health goes, [[http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=7933596&story_id=15060097 a 2009 study by the OECD]] found that the UK, ironically, has the healthiest teeth in the industrialized world, ahead of the United States even, something backed up by a [[http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/dec/17/british-teeth-us-dentistry-oral-health 2015 study for the British Medical Journal]].

* An ad for Dog treats uses this trope. "[[https://streamable.com/c4y66 Don't let American dogs suffer from British teeth]]"

* In the ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9271444/1/Dark-Horse-of-the-Moons Dark Horse of the Moons]]'', Roz Doyle is being courted by a brother of Daphne Moon who is posted on a Royal Navy ship visiting Seattle. When her daughter develops tooth pain on a visit to the ship, Tim Moon swings it to get her seen by the ship's medical unit, where a dentist performs a minor operation on her. Later on, Niles Crane is utterly aghast at this.

* Creator/StephenFry and [[Series/TheLateLateShow Craig Ferguson]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaQxudvOpII discussed this]], with Stephen doubting Craig was even British because his teeth looked so good and Craig commenting that they were mostly his but that things had been done to them when he passed through immigration.

** And the jokes continued in ''Series/TheGrandTour'' when, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85GSILNh6U4 in one promo]], Clarkson points out his and May's teeth immediately mark them as British. After getting "Americanized", their new super white teeth are ''terrifying''. [[spoiler:Meanwhile, Hammond and his pearly whites escape completely untouched.]]

* The British Music/DanBull made a song aptly titled "[[https://youtu.be/g6BzPBTxExA British Teeth]]"; he acknowledges (if not slightly exaggerates) the fact that his teeth isn't aesthetically pleasing, and that he doesn't really mind it at all.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCgx8zM3woQ The Stereotypes Song]]" mentions "the crooked-ass teeth of an English dude" as an example.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': While there's obviously no Britain in Runterra and it's {{downplayed|trope}} since Caitlyn only has a very tiny gap in her front teeth, it's noticeable that the British-accented daughter of such a wealthy family has an imperfection with her teeth while someone like Vi who grew up in the slums has perfect teeth.