Bare Gummy's

So the country that is the home of the Hollywood smile, and claims it sets a global standard in dental perfection ....

Income And Dental Visits USA

..... is also one, where millions worry about how to treat a toothache or an infection. Poorer Americans rely on free dental clinics and charities, which have a tendency to remove teeth, rather than trying to repair them, as its a cheaper basic treatment.

One interesting figure from these statistics, is that even from those whose income is 4 times the US definition of a poverty line, only 48.7 per cent actually go to the dentists once a year. This tells you how ruinous dental charges can be if your health plan doesn't cover the charges.

Data published in 2015 by the US National Centre for Health Statistics, revealed that nearly one in five of the US population aged 65 and over, have no teeth. None. Not a one. And in the black population the figure is nearly one in three. And the US has the cheek to mock British dentistry and British smiles ...

Big Book Of British Book Of Smiles - Fiction

The founder of Remote Area Medical (RAM), an organisation that provides free medical services to Americans who would otherwise have no access to them because of costs, has confirmed that in the small town of Wise, Virginia, they extract 4,000 teeth every year. People do die in the USA because they can't afford to go to the dentist (not to mention a doctor, or an ophthalmologist, both of which organisations like RAM also provide a limited access to). 

Big Book Of US Book Of Smiles - Fact

In the US, a basic dental examination costs an average of $275. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) charges £21.60 ($28.36) basic visit/check-up; £59.10 ($77.60) for a filling/extraction/root canal; and £256.50 ($336.79) for crowns, dentures and bridges. Treatment for those on welfare benefits is also totally free for basic treatment including fillings etc.

Sadly even with the subsidised costs, the UK is not immune from these poverty led dental and glasses issues .... for instance surveys suggest that one in five patients have delayed dental treatment for financial reasons (Wales gives over 60's free dental check-ups, but not treatment). This is an issue across the globe, where dental care appears to be a luxury item for most people. Worldwide a healthy smile it seems, depends on a healthy bank balance ... but it shouldn't be.

Basic oral hygiene is cheap (tooth brush and toothpaste and a willingness to use them), and a good dentist never takes out healthy teeth, he knows they will never grow again but bad teeth can damage health and future longevity as decay bacteria gets in to the bloodstream.

 

Update: In 2015 a joint bit of dental health research by Harvard University and the University of London uncovered the truth (or is that the tooth?) of the matter. It found that the US citizens had on average 7.31 missing teeth, while the British subjects had an average of 6.97. 

 

Oddly the study also found that in the UK, the older population had the worst teeth, while in the USA it was the working age population who had the worst, with this group being also most likely to have no teeth whatsoever left in their heads! 

Other studies have confirmed these findings, and also indicated that Brits are far more likely to visit the dentist for an annual check-up ... however the better off US citizens are more likely to opt for cosmetic dental work than their UK counterparts.

 

So whose the gummy bears now then? 

Last Update:

 

Sadly, after 65 years of NHS dental care in the UK, the system has collapsed as dentists increasingly refuse to practise or take NHS patients. I myself am facing the choice between no dental care or private care as my dentists of 28 years have informed me that from December 2023 they will not treat NHS patients anymore. 

 

The reasons are twofold; 

1. a dentist at the practise retired and they can't find anyone to replace him who will take NHS patients, and money.
2.  The NHS doesn't pay enough to cover dentists costs (note: this is a very left-wing newspaper report, that ignores the fact the Labour Party also presided over the same decline in NHS dental provision, BUT the NHS contract failing parts are true enough), anymore so they won't do the work. 

I checked around within 20 mile radius and only one dentist allegedly still took on new NHS patients, (I say allegedly as it was probably outdated information and they were 20 miles away) so its go private or go toothless .... I will have to bite the bullet (while I still have teeth), and go private.