Moose
Ken Clarke is not a prime example: as a smoker and a drinker he is almost
bound to have stained teeth. As to snaggles, mine are a little uneven ... but
they are healthy.
We had our eldest son's teeth treated while we in Florida and he was 7 or 8
years old, but when he returned to the UK there was no one to continue the
treatment. And at something like £2,000 for another course, our priorities
were not in his favour. Our youngest had orthodontic treatment in the UK,
however, to correct protruding front teeth and we were glad to have done that.
I should be proud to have teeth like yours (all your own), but although I have
no dentures I shouldn't be too concerned about all the evenness of colour -- I
can't afford to be. And it does seem to be an obsession in the USA -- having
perfect teeth. I remember, after having watched Alien, thinking that there
were rather too many women in the USA with jaws like Sigourney Weaver; it's a
sort of pronounced underbite (might have that wrong) and it tends to the
impression of clones created by orthodontists.
Somewhere between the US and the European model might be ideal. But since the
world is rather beautiful in its unevenness, I am happy for us to be us and you
to be you ... :-)
Chris
On 10 Nov 2009, at 23:00, Moose wrote:
> We recently rewatched Kenneth Clark's Civilization TV series from oh so
> long ago. I highly recommend it, by the way. It's so very different and,
> at least to us, refreshingly so, from contemporary shows about art history.
>
> Anyway, the one jarring note was his teeth; snaggly might be the best
> term to describe them, of various odd lengths and shapes, various
> darkish colors and arranged every which way.
>
> Given his background, it seems unlikely that he had been unable to
> afford dentistry. Given his obvious care with other aspects of his
> appearance, it seems unlikely that he didn't care about how he appeared
> to others. So I must put it down to simple cultural difference. I
> imagine most 'Murkins, like myself, see teeth like that imagine
> unhealthy gums, difficulty eating, bad breath, etc. Apparently those of
> his era and class see them as perfectly normal and healthy.
>
> I do know that joking and/or disparaging remarks about British dentistry
> are not uncommon here. My long time dental hygienist has been going to
> Germany for 6 weeks or so each year to teach for some years, and has
> commented on how primitive gum care there is compared to here.
>
> As a 65 year old still with all his original teeth, at least the roots,
> if not all the tops, I'm very happy with the local obsession with
> dental/periodontal care and the time I spend on it on my own.
>
> As to whether the obsession with blindingly white teeth is a good or bad
> thing, it seems to me to be much less unhealthy than so many other human
> obsessions that I can't see anything wrong with it. As it happens, my
> two upper front teeth are capped as a result of being broken off at
> scout camp over half a century ago. As the last pair of crowns lasted
> many, many years, they started to stand out bright against my other,
> gently darkening teeth.
>
> It finally got so funny looking that I whitened the rest back to almost
> match the crowns. Then somewhat later, I was in my last year of pre
> Medicare dental insurance and chose to have the crowns replaced. They
> were still technically sound, but becoming a bit unattractive, what with
> wear and gum recession, and with far fewer years of life left going
> forward than already given. So what do you do then? They matched the
> crowns to the other teeth.
>
> So I suppose one day I will be whitening the rest to match the crowns
> again. :-)
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|