BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture English Culture English/British Stereotypes

Gotta ask this and I know I'm going to come off as sounding completely daft lol but what is behind the stereotype that all English people have bad teeth and that English has bad dentistry?

Well I will look into it more, but it is not that they have bad teeth now, apart from eating to much sugar, some children do, its the fact that orthodontics were not always as advanced in Engand as they have been in the USA, it is only this last 15 years or so it is more available. So its not so much bad hygine as crooked teeth!
In victorian times poor people had very bad teeth because they were not taught how much it mattered to their health. The English do have a history of being unhygenic! mostly I think because of superstition.
An Excellent question Heather and I will be doing an article on it! doctoring skills in the west were hunderds of years behind middle eastern doctoring.

I heard somewhere it is because their water does not contain fluoride, as most of ours does. Don't know if there is truth to that, but it would make some sense.

Our water does contain floride. Too much in my opinion.

As for being unhygenic, what superstitions have you heard of that relate to hygiene? I admit in the middle ages things were quite basic, but then that is true of most countries during that period and arguably some undeveloped countries now.

Our dentistry is a little like your health service, if you can afford it you're fine. Otherwise it's not so good.

My daughter has a dental hygienist visit her school about every 8 weeks to give a talk, stickers for clean teeth and letters home for those not up to scratch. It's a little like the gastapo.

I actually think Americans go a bit overboard about teeth. I've always had nice teeth, so other than the occasional whitening strip haven't had anything done. However, I remember someone doing a survey about Americans and "big white teeth" was a common description. Cosmetic dental care has it's bonuses, but excessive whitening can eventually thin your enamel and then cause other problems. My sister had to have braces and that's different, but the perfectly shaped neon white teeth make me a bit nervous.

Sometimes it's actually refreshing to see actors or models who don't have absolutely perfect teeth. It makes them seem more realistic for some reason.

I don't mean to say I'm not for dental health. Flossing, flouride and trips to the dentist every six months are good. I even have a Sonicare toothbrush.

LOL! I know what you mean! Just cos you think it is too much, does not mean you don't brush!!!!!

Juniper is correct, if you can go private it is better, NHS is long waiting.

However, in Medieval times actually, Holland was more hygenic than England. Eurasmus, a famous thinker of his time, found it dirty and unhealthy.

Even in Victorian times, the poor especially, were not healthy or hygenic, there was a case of a dentist being shocked at a man he saw that literally had plack 3'' thick on his teeth, and he complained about the lack of denal care britsh people had. Also in Edwardian times Edward VII went in disguise to a poor area of London and was appalled at the filth, he saw, among other things, a family who were all huddled together, father and children ill and naked in squalour. He was horrified such filth was going on in London. That was one of the main reasons the slums were pulled down after the second world war, because of the cramped and filthy conditions.

That said, since WW2 and the introduction of the NHS especially when it first started, people have been much better cared for and much better educated. So hygenine is not an issue anymore for the majority.

LOL Are you guys ready for this?

Once, I saw on a television program that the reason the Brits planted huge flower gardens back in the 18th and 19th centuries was to cover up body odor. LOL How true could that be? Flowers don't have strong aromas and certainly not strong enough to cover up body odor.

An excellent point Heather.

Actually some flowers like cherry pie are strong, but I have never heard that story. It was because victorians love formal flower gardens that they planted flowers. The ones who were popular were for their smell, mignonette, stock, night stock (can be very strong, if the ind is right at night and VERY beautiul smell. I love it), and cherry pie. They do smell georgous. They have fallen from favor sadly, esp. mignonette, which smells like heaven. I love them.

If their is any truth in it, which is possible, it would be because of the working classes, the rich would not want their delicate noses offended by the poor, who could not afford to wash well, nor were educated about it.

To cover up body odour in medieval times I know they used pomanders of oranges stuck with cloves.

Europe in general had weird superstitions. Like with balancing out the humors and things like that. For cultures so much more "advanced" than native cultures, it sure seems silly that they'd think bleeding someone with leeches would make them feel better.

There are some really good books that highlight things like that. One is called "Catherine, Called Birdy" and the other is "The Midwife's Apprentice." Both are by Karen Cushman. They are aimed at a middle school/high school audience, but are VERY good books, especially if you're interested in history.