Americans do not have better teeth than the English

Contrary to popular belief, the oral health of US citizens is not better than the English, finds a study in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. In addition, the research suggests there are consistently wider educational and income inequalities in oral health in the US compared with England. There is a popular belief in the US, dating back over a century, that the English have terrible teeth, much worse than Americans. Contemporary examples of this belief in popular US culture range from The Simpsons to the Hollywood character Austin Powers and his repugnant smile. However, no study had directly compared levels of oral health and oral health inequalities between England and the US. So a research team based in the UK and the US assessed oral health measures and socioeconomic indicators using data from the English Adult Dental Health Survey (ADHS), and the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Adults aged 25 years and older were included with samples of 8,719 (England) and 9,786 (US) for analyses by education, and 7,184 (England) and 9,094 (US) for analyses by income.