British teeth are thought of as comedic by Americans and it is something that has even been mentioned in The Simpsons. The issue of British teeth vs American teeth has been heavily publicised in the British papers in recent times, especially as some of our celebrities have been criticised by American reporters. Ricky Gervais was famously complimented by a US reporter for wearing what he thought were fake bad teeth and the journalist was shocked to find out they were the stars own teeth. This sparked a debate in the British media on the state of British teeth and if we deserved to be mocked by the Americans.

The reality is that most people don’t have bad teeth. Although there has been a lack of NHS dental facilities available in some parts, many people have started investing in dental plans to make sure they can get an appointment at the dentist. This trend is likely to continue with more dentists signing up with dental plan providers. In the UK the main concern has always been with making sure teeth are healthy, rather than following the American route of bright white teeth. There has been an increase in cosmetic dental surgery and an increase in the amount of braces and veneers.

Teeth whitening is the latest American dentistry to come to these shores even though some teeth whitening products are only available online. The rise in the popularity of teeth whitening in the United Kingdom could be because of the number of British celebrities that have had their teeth whitened. Simon Cowell recently insisted that all the X Factor finalists underwent some teeth whitening at a top cosmetic dental surgery. It is also obvious that everyone from Kate Blanchett to Richard Hammond have invested in some sort of teeth whitening, so it is unsurprising to see an increase among the public.