Drat. I wanted to get in before the British teeth jokes.

I refer you to gapminder.org, where there is a graph of dental health which shows that British 12-year-olds actually have pretty good teeth nowadays. In fact, their dental care is better than American 12-year-olds, probably because they don't get it from a Mexican-trained dentist in the back of a van in the WalMart parking lot.

Who has the best teeth? (new window)

Canadian health care doesn't cover most dental care except for certain kinds of oral surgery. That's probably reason number one our 12 year olds have slightly worse teeth than Mexicans. The Mexicans probably eat a lot less candy and junk food, also. I know I would eat a lot less candy if it came from Gautemala and had lead in it. I don't buy much hard candy, especially at the dollar store. If it says China or Central America on the package, no thanks. Sugar is not worth the risk.

Mind you, that's only 2.1 bad teeth per Canadian child and 2.0 per Mexican child. The American child has 1.19 bad teeth and the UK child has 0.7 bad teeth. Good job, Dr. Bob.

Dr. Bob's nurse will give you a sugar-free lolly on the way out.

If you want to make fun of some country for bad teeth, I suggest that you make fun of Canada. Maybe we can get some government dental care out of it. I already have free government dental care, which is a Good Thing. I pay at the Dentist's Surgery and get a cheque promptly in the mail for about 85% of my costs.

I always quote the old Jewish proverb that a tooth is worth more than a diamond. And if Jews know anything, it's the cost of dental care and diamonds. Good for them. Somebody has to do it, and now that the diamond-cutting trade has moved from Amsterdam to Pakistan and India where half-naked lads earn pennies a day cutting diamonds that are worth more than their lives, there's always dentistry. Unpleasant it may be to fish around in other people's mouths, but I don't begrudge them the high cost of dental care. It's worth it.

If our stupid Government would pay for it, they'd save a fortune on health care of other kinds, even health care for heart attacks, because the germs in your mouth have been proven to get into your heart via the circulatory system if your teeth are not sound and your gums are not healthy.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEETH AND THEY WILL TAKE CARE OF THE STEAK., and also your cardiovascular health, oddly enough.

The_Original_Roxtar: THE ADA IS A TOOL OF THE WHITE MAN TO KEEP THE AFRICAN RACE IN SUBJUGATION!

/thought it was black history month?

Chris Rock quote always makes me laugh (about Black History Month)

"Not only is it the shortest month of the year, but it's also the coldest month of the year! Just in case we want to have a parade!"

The tooth brush is much older than Arkansas, thank God.

Before tooth paste was invented and put in handy squeeze tubes for the benifit of divorce lawyers, the basic ingredients were put in jars as a powder and sold as "tooth powder". You had to add water, whiskey or gin to make your own paste.

I'm surprised that Mr. Burns hasn't asked Smithers to put some tooth powder on his tooth brush at some point. Probably Mr. Smithers does this without being asked and if he didn't Mr. Burns would complain, like the British Lord who had to let his valet go, that the tooth brush wasn't foaming any more (he had no idea it didn't do that automatically).

Before tooth powder, people of various races and nations would chew sticks and pick their teeth after dining. Tooth picking has not completely vanished to this day, although most tooth picks seem to be used in the kitchen to make canapés and to test cakes for done-ness (if you are clueless in the kitchen, this is done by sticking the tooth pick into the cake--if cake sticks, it is not done. If you can poke the tooth pick into the thickest bits of the cake and draw it out clean, the cake is done there. YOu can also prick chickens and other meats for doneness. Clear juices mean it's done, a bit of blood means it is still underdone.)

IIRC, the Ancient Egyptians invented the tooth brush (and paste, which they probably made of urine and dung or something). The Ancient Iberians (ancestors of the Spanish and Portuguese) washed their mouths out with their own urine. Hey, it is sterile and safer than Spanish water and wine! Don't judge them. They had great teeth because they did this and because they liked their meat rare, if not raw.

Special types of twigs are still used for toothbrushes in Africa and Latin America, Asia, etc.

Even in cave man days, twigs were chewed for cleaning teeth. The twigs have been found. Chewed properly, the end of the twig becomes a sort of brush, like a paint brush, and you can rub the teeth and gums with it, and even get between the looser teeth.

The bristles of shaving brushes and tooth brushes were originally made with real bristles--the stiff airs of a pig. Boar bristle hair and shaving brushes are still made for the luxury trade, with wooden, ivory or silver handles.

Many of the poorest people in the world don't need tooth brushes much because they have wonderfully clean and health teeth. Sugar and other heavily processed, soft and gooey foods are to blame. Dental health declined at about the same time as coal replaced wood in fires in much of Europe. It was an urban and modern problem caused by poor food quality and snacking between meals.

I am blessed with a stable mouth (as my dentist calls it) which takes a licking (no pun intended) and keeps on ticking, but weak teeth, poor dental care, and bad dentistry cost some of my relatives their teeth very young. It was traditional for working class Americans to lose their teeth early until recently for the same reasons. Nowadays kids often report no cavities thanks to modern toothpaste with fluoride and relatively non-abrassive ingredients, combined with excellent care at home and at the office. But apparently the rest of the world is catching up.

There is a great convergence going on, and even poor countries are benefiting from new and cheaper technology, goods and services. The time when a mouth full of rotten, blackened teeth was typical of the poor is passing, and I for one am happy to pay the extra taxes to ensure I don't have to look at the poor fugly bastards.

Makes my teeth ache just thinking of the dark ages of fifty years ago. There's technical progress every year even if my dentist is getting older and forgetful. He thought my teeth were wearing too much and then realized I'm twenty years older than he thought, so they're not so bad. Twenty years make quite a difference when you're talking teeth.

I'm using February to remember all the African Americans who made Black History Month. My teeth can take a punch for this noble cause.

George Washington the Carver - Famous African American who works at Boston Market. Beat the newfangled, steam powered Automated Carving Machine in a contest. Was fired anyways.

Malcolm in the Middle X - Famous member of the hit game show Hollywood Squares

Martin Luther King - What can you say about this man? Black Comedian, Superman's arch enemy and burger royalty.

In a pinch, you can brush your teeth with bicarbonate of soda aka baking soda (but it is a bit abrasive) and salt. A bit of peppermint oil can be used to make it taste nicer.

Recipes are easy to find on the web, including some with hydrogen peroxide to whiten your teeth. A dilute solution (further diluted--it usually starts at 3-5%) can whiten you teeth and treat small scratches without the paste but the paste helps to remove stains as well.