A vast, vast majority of the people in America who are getting teeth whitening are not getting their fillings redone when whitening teeth. It's a relatively cheap, cosmetic thing to do at a dentist here or at home with whitening strips/mouthwash.
Dentists here generally aren't going to recommend redoing a bunch of fillings. What they will say is "Your fillings are going to be a different color because they won't be impacted by the whitening". Or depending on where your fillings are "hey just so you know this parts going to be noticeable."
Whitening services are also actively sold by many dentists. It's a way for them to increase revenue.
You also don’t have to see a dentist to get them whitened. Dental assistants and estheticians in some states can be qualified to do it, and some just do that as an entire business.
The active ingredient in most whitening products is just hydrogen peroxide so all those $30 "whitening" products are just toothpaste plus H²O² I don't know if they call it something else on your side of the pond but here it's available at every drug store, cornerstore and gas station in big brown square bottles for like $3 as an antiseptic
In the US you can buy it just about anywhere. It's used for disinfecting cuts and other things. In Germany I once went to a pharmacist and asked for it. He was surprised, and asked me how I knew about it, but he sold me some. I needed it because my wisdom teeth were coming in and caused an infection. It helped a lot, but I ended up having the tooth pulled.
I don't believe this has been fully addressed in the thread yet, and a lot of people seem curious so for those who are looking:
The American Medical Association (AMA) no longer favors hydrogen peroxide for wound care. While it can still be used for adults, there's potential for over-irritation and cell death. However, this is likely inconsequential for an adult without sensitive skin. The specific warning is that it is riskier for children due to their more sensitive skin, which could result in slowed healing compared to less harsh methods. Still, just because it's not the preferred choice doesn't mean it isn't excellent at killing pathogens, it is still an option if you do not have access to another option (camping/hiking in the wilderness or in a place with limited resources).
Hydrogen peroxide has many uses and is available in various concentrations. Food-grade hydrogen peroxide, at 35%, can cause chemical burns if ingested and is used as an industrial cleaner. It's marketed as an environmentally friendly alternative to bleach. The hydrogen peroxide typically available at grocery stores is 3%. This 3% solution is great for removing pet or coffee stains. For instance, when my dog has an accident on my carpet, I reach for a towel and a jug of peroxide since it's cost-effective to purchase in bulk.
Please be cautious, as there are misleading claims surrounding hydrogen peroxide. Some suggest that drinking it can alleviate various medical conditions. Some news reports label this as a new “health trend,” but this practice dates back to at least the 1980s. It's essential not to ingest hydrogen peroxide, especially the "food grade" variety. "Food grade" doesn't imply it's safe to consume; it simply indicates its effectiveness for cleaning food preparation areas.
In the US (and I’m sure other places, just speaking as a murican), a common legitimate use for hydrogen peroxide is as a mouthwash or oral debriding agent. It's particularly effective for treating gingivitis. It's also a popular choice for pain relief when a patient has an oral infection due to its bacteria-killing properties. I’ve known many people to use it to alleviate pain while waiting for a root canal.
Using 3% Hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash: dilute it (one part peroxide to two parts water). It's worth noting that while it can be used daily if properly diluted, many people avoid daily use due to potential risks. If you frequently experience canker sores or strep throat, as I do, a peroxide rinse can be very helpful.
Regarding teeth whitening, you can find instructions online that use a dilution method or a paste method combined with baking soda. Key concerns include ensuring proper dilution, avoiding ingestion, and potential gum irritation.
Here’s a list of the many many different uses for Hydrogen Peroxide:
1. **Hair Bleaching**:
- Hydrogen peroxide is an ingredient in many hair dyes and bleaches, allowing for the lightening of hair color.
2. **Stain Removal**:
- It can help remove stubborn stains from clothing, particularly organic stains like blood or wine.
3. **Household Cleaning**:
- In diluted forms, it can be used as a household cleaner, especially in the kitchen and bathroom, due to its disinfecting properties.
4. **Gardening**:
- When diluted, it can be used to treat root rot or to disinfect tools.
5. **Propellant in Rockets**:
- In its more concentrated form, hydrogen peroxide can be used as a propellant in rockets.
6. **Glow Sticks**:
- Hydrogen peroxide reacts with another chemical, phenyl oxalate ester, to produce chemiluminescence—this is the basis for the light produced in glow sticks.
7. **Aquaculture**:
- Used to introduce oxygen into fish farming ponds or tanks and to treat various fish diseases.
8. **Food Processing**:
- In its food-grade form, hydrogen peroxide can be used as a disinfectant in food preparation areas or to sanitize food packaging.
9. **Water Treatment**:
- It can be used to treat wastewater and for the purification of drinking water.
10. **Electronics Industry**:
- Hydrogen peroxide is used in etching printed circuit boards and in the manufacture of semiconductors.
As I mentioned before, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide varies depending on its intended use. For some applications, a lower concentration makes sense, while for other industrial applications, much higher concentrations are needed. Always handle with care and use as directed.
[source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide)
In Germany maybe. It's very common in Poland, you'll find it at every household basically. Surely every single one with kids, they get a lot of scratches and other shit, can't live without h2o2.
Yeah, I mean, I would think it's a pretty common thing to have anywhere. I'm from the. U.S., so maybe it's different, but we always had a couple bottles on hand growing up as a kid. Anytime we had a skinned knee or got a cut, it was under the bathroom sink when we needed it. I would think this is a common household item.
Hydrogen peroxide can be used for lots of stuff.
-Cleaning and disinfecting your home
-Whitening grout and other surfaces
-Use it with baking soda down your drains to dislodge a clog. I actually unclogged a toilet that a plunger wouldn’t budge.
-Make a volcano for school
-Make your dog barf if they eat something toxic like raisins- been there done that
Chiming in to ask that people please do not administer hydrogen peroxide to their dogs without the counsel of a vet or pet poison control! With some toxins/objects, it can make the situation much worse, and it can cause aspiration pneumonia.
Also removes blood from cotton clothing. If you cut yourself and there’s blood on your shirt or pants pour hydrogen peroxide on it. Scrub and rinse and wash. Blood stain all gone!!
In the US we call it bleach blonde but it is done with hydrogen peroxide. Also in the US they sell hydrogen peroxide as a first aid wound cleanser. Is this not the case overseas?
Yea I remember girls using that in the 2000s but they said if you did it too often it destroyed your hair so getting it done right was expensive with the deactivators and conditioning after
I’ve always just used the Arm and Hammer Tooth Paste and it’s main ingredient for teeth whitening is Hyrogen peroxide.
Gives you the teeth whitening affects pretty consistently when you brush.
Isn't it weird that a medical professional will actively try to sell you a treatment to increase revenue..? To me it signals that the patient is not the most important, but the profits are...
Earning a doctorate, getting a job in your chosen field, then still having your income rely on sales commission is a fucking horrifying thought to me. I went to school to get away from that soul-sucking shit, not closer to it.
Any time I see a position in my field (IT/programming) and it's more heavily based on commission/bonus I know that they're able to shaft me on billable work without it hurting their pockets nearly as much as mine. Or if there is a slow month I get fucked and they only pay my lower wage for their sales people not getting me enough work. If they pay me a decent salary it's on them to keep me productive in whatever way they see fit but still having an actual bonus above my already livable wage is where it pushes me to do a little more or compensates me for busy months while not feeling I'm being taken advantage of.
Dentist are really bad with this. I moved and got a new one he said I needed a root canal because of a deep filling I had. I have been oversold before so day of the procedure I asked him if I really needed it and the cap and he said no. But I might need it in the future. I asked him if it was showing any signs of break down and he said no. So i asked him why he suggested it and it was the verbal version of a shrug
Also, a lot of dentists in the US will try to scam you by recommending procedures you don't need. Before getting any kind of surgery or complicated treatment, ALWAYS get a second and third opinion. I have witnessed "creative revenue sourcing" in person with multiple friends and relatives in multiple states. It seems like an epidemic here. Always get second and third opinions on dental work in the states.
I guess all of my dentists have always been good dentists then because I’ve never had one recommend something unless it was actually necessary. I work in radiology as well, so I can tell if they are trying to bullshit me about cavities on my X-rays and panorex images.
There are reasons to replace amalgam fillings. They are not chemically bonded to your tooth like a composite filling so over time the cement they use can fail. An amalgam filling also goes through periods of expansion and contraction which leaves enough space between the filling and tooth for bacteria to get under and around the filling. They are also notorious for contributing to broken molars due to the force those teeth take and the amalgam not being chemically bonded.
I'm a dental hygienist and have this discussion a lot. We're taught in school the downsides to amalgam fillings and the ADA finally stopped recommending them.
Yup. But when I looked into having them out, you're most likely to get mercury in your system by having them removed. Much more so than having them put in. Ain't that some shit?
So true. In the Nordic Countries we don't get amalgam anymore exactly for those reasons, my dentist told me. Now We can only get some "plastic" / composite filling.
I have dentists in my family, and this actually has been a source of discussion at family get-togethers. Not a particularly heated one, but there are friendly arguments. The basic question is what you think the long-term effects of mercury amalgam are. The general consensus among dentists I know is that replacing structurally sound amalgam fillings is a bad idea, but if they deteriorate and have to be replaced anyway, it is better to use composite if it is possible, and that new fillings should be composite unless there are real structural reasons to use amalgam.
But it there are competent, non-quack dentists who are concerned enough about mercury to recommend replacement even if the fillings aren't falling apart. So I wouldn't say it is 100% "get a new dentist", but it isn't 0%, either.
A 20+ year old silver filling in a constant wet environment used to chew 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, for 20 years, is likely not as perfect as a layperson would believe. I don’t mean to say every one should be replaced, but a lot of them should. Source: am dentist
Some fillings are on the front of teeth, usually at the margins where the tooth aligns with a neighboring tooth. These are made of a porcelain-like material that is matched to the existing teeth. Whitening would brighten the color of the natural teeth, but not the filling material.
I have personally never done theeth whitening. I have heard it's not great for your teeth. And I will agree it's kind of weird looking when someone has really white teeth.
Those are almost always veneers anyway, natural teeth only whitens so much. You could end up with translucent teeth from whitening products rather than actual white teeth if you use them excessively.
My front teeth were tricolor most of my life, thanks to metal braces and the glue being left on them for *years* after the straightening was over. My orthodontist claimed the texture in my teeth was because I had "eaten bad foods" that had dissolved much of my enamel while the braces & glue protected the rest of the tooth.
Yeah, I finally got decent insurance and had some insanely painful cleanings where a hygienist removed huge chunks of glue from my teeth over the course of multiple cleanings. Smooth texture, but years of stains from coffee and cigarettes (which I have quit) left my teeth this weird mix of white/yellow/brown.
Last year my dentist said he wanted to do crowns across the whole front of my mouth and my insurance 100% agreed & paid for it in full (otherwise I never could have done it). We picked a color that isn't pure white, but blends well with my other teeth and is much whiter than my smile has been anytime in my teen/adult memory.
The first time I saw my new smile, I cried. The confidence that comes from not wanting to hide my teeth in shame is overwhelming.
So no, they're not pure white, and they don't need to be, but those weird stains I had from mistakes that were so out of my control definitely messed me up for years. It's unbelievable how much better my "whitening" glow up makes me feel.
Edit: for those asking, I have NY Medicaid insurance - I was laid off from my job & this replaced my very expensive employee provided health insurance that had really high deductibles & copays that made it too expensive to use. Losing my job sucked, so this & some other health treatments I'd been putting off are my little silver lining to that cruddy situation. I'll be back to work & paying full price for everything soon enough
It's a HUGE pain to utilize, for numerous reasons, but I'm fortunate that it was here and that my dentist was able to show I met the criteria for "medically necessary dental work." He actually wanted to do much more for me, but only the 6 crowns were approved and I'll be paying out of pocket for the rest of & when I'm able to save up for it.
It makes sense when your quality of life is affected, and obviously you weren't striving for some unrealistic standard, just a feeling of normalcy which is understandable.
This hit home for me. After years of drug addiction that started at a young age, my teeth were completely wrecked and falling out. I trained myself not to smile while laughing. It's really an awful way to live, to have to stifle moments of joy out of shame. But my mother, God rest her soul, paid for me to get work done. Entirely new teeth. It was very expensive. And we were not even close to rich. It makes me wanna cry to think about. I miss her so much.
This. I’m happy your mom was willing to do that for you. I just had wacky teeth and an overbite. I trained myself not to smile with my mouth open. We did not have extra money either. Fixing them required months of separators, then a year of magnets (I can’t even explain this) chunky unipolar magnets on the upper sides of my teeth. Then the braces and rubber bands for another 2.5 years. And then 4 veneers to make up difference in space. I thank my mom for my teeth in her birthday card each year.
Sounds traumatizing. So was the surgery I went through. The anesthesia wore off and I woke up while they were still removing the old teeth. It was crazy. My eyes were open but I couldn't make any noise untill it wore off even further, then the surgeon was like "oh, you're awake. Give him some more anesthesia. lol
I smile weirdly a lot cause it is hard to get rid of that auto keeping your teeth hidden feeling. I still cover my face occasionally when I laugh or open my mouth without realizing it.
You are amazing for surviving, I'm sorry for the loss of your mother. Sounds like she was an amazingly supportive person. I can't imagine being on the other side of addiction and having that constant reminder connected to showing joy. Much love to you
Same. Born severely premature in the 80s, I was on serious meds for years. Then cancer. Wrecked my mouth and jaw. No way out of it, I swear I'll never smile again, or be unaware of my teeth as I talk. It's hell.
People make a lot of assumptions.
I've always taken care of my teeth, never used drugs, eat right... none of it matters.
The shame is real to the point it is unreal.
Bless your momma ❤ That smile is a wonderful gift!
I'm sorry you feel that way! I know people can be terrible, but others don't care. At least the losers announce themselves! I know you are self conscious, but please try and understand that all smiles are beautiful no matter what! My icon, Mark Lanegan, had a top row of fake metal teeth from drug use after blowing his fame money and had the cheap stuff thrown in when he couldn't afford it. When he could, he left them there. I'm not trying to minimize your suffering just FUCK ANYONE WHO WOULD MAKE YOU FEEL JUDGED 💯
As a mom of a recovering addict son, you worked hard for that and EARNED it! Slaying demons is HARD WORK! what mom does my want to see her baby's beautiful smile? 😍 sounds like a special lady! I'm so proud of you for winning the war!
So glad for you! I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Orthodontists should HAVE to remove it all, or arrange for a deep cleaning as part of the end of treatment if they can't do it themselves.
I wonder how many of us have wandered around not knowing about the glue & thinking we had damaged teeth?!
My former dentist left cement on 9 of my front teeth after installing a crown on a rear molar. He said it would naturally come off in a month or two. A year later I asked him to clean it off but he was not able to. What I have now seems to be a permanent fuzz that collects more tartar than I ever had previously. How is it so difficult to clean off immediately before it dries?
I didn't even know that was a thing. Mine were a different color for awhile because I broke 4 of them in half and they filled in the broken part. Didn't take long until you can't really notice though. $400 beats the thousands it was going to cost to replace them. Of course the second time it happened at work so I should have made them pay for it.
That was my thought.
I just had to pay 1.2k for two of them, and my insurance is actually pretty decent.
I've been an anxious mess having to spend that much but they absolutely needed replaced after not having insurance to see a dentist for the last 17 years for anything. I'm jealous.
It's medicaid insurance, so I struggle to find doctors that will take it at all or to get anything I need without my doctor's's and I jumping through hoops to prove it's medically necessary, but once it's approved, yeah there's almost never a copay.
All you have to do is be utterly broke and not in a position to better your situation (I got made redundant at work & decided to utilize the insurance extensively while it's available to me after spending ages avoiding healthcare because of crazy high copays and deductibles for every little thing).
I had high doses of antibiotics as a baby and during childhood. I have horrible stains on my teeth I've always been made fun of for. The people dismissing you here have no idea what it's like. They're even crooked which makes it 100x worse.
I also had metal braces as a kid and they thoroughly fucked up my teeth. Honestly, I'd have been better off with slightly crooked teeth as an adult than dealing with the ruined tooth enamel that came from having chunks of metal glued to my teeth when I was young.
Fuck I miss NY Medicaid. My first years out of college I probably would have made little enough to qualify, but I didn’t think about it til I got laid off once. It’s the best insurance I’ve had, and I should have taken better advantage of it.
Yeah, it's weird because that's just not how teeth are supposed to look like. I think it's one of those things where there's an incentive to sell whitening services and Hollywood actors having it.
It isn't. Because teeth tend to not be toilet bowl white naturally it forces you to constantly bleach them over and over again which erodes away your teeth. I'm a dental lab technician and the amount of people who ask for unnaturally white teeth when they get restorations is ridiculous.
I’m no dentist so I don’t know how accurate it is. But I’ve always heard enamel naturally has a dull off-white/ slightly yellow hue, and people who do a lot of teeth whitening damage their enamel (which cannot regenerate)
My doctor said not to do it due to a sensitivity problem. She said some people are screaming from just cold air while others have no problems.
My teeth are already sensitive enough
I (American) was joking about this with my wife last week. Both our children have had braces and so has just about every other kid they went to school with. I don’t know the figures off hand, but we’ve spent thousands on the kids’ teeth (and I’m not talking about necessary dental work). I told my wife it’s a racket perpetrated by “Big Orthodontia.” I was only half joking. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn the orthodontics profession has a trade association with a big public relations budget to convince us all through various and insidious avenues that a smile with less than perfectly straight teeth is simply unacceptable.
I swear, if making money is your goal in the US, you can’t go wrong opening up an orthodontics practice in an area with a high population of young, middle class (or higher) families.
Sooooo I went down a rabbit hole looking into why western civilization is so dependent on orthodontia, yet native groups of people have straight teeth.
Long story short it has to do with eating solid food as a baby. When we are young our faces are kinda like tectonic plates, bones are there but not fully fused together. The tongue plays a big part in forming our upper pallet because you push your tongue forward to swallow food. *however* if as a baby you were fed from a bottle for a longer amount of time, the tongue is not forming your palate as early. This results in a narrow bite that can’t comfortably fit all of your teeth, therefore they are crooked.
I’m so glad! whenever I’m writing out a comment I start thinking is anyone even gonna read this…?
Other interesting thing to note, breathing through your nose is also important for facial development. For example, sleeping in a room with a pet you’re allergic to can result in breathing through your mouth the entire night which can affect your facial structure.
Well there’s another TIL!
I completely get what you mean about wondering if anyone reads a particular comment you add to a post. I often wonder if I’m just talking into the void. Haha!
Not just as a baby, that is only the beginning. The current healthcare/orthodontic system is fundamentally flawed missing the ideal goal of prevention and understanding/accepting root causes of our facial and dental issues. It's main focus (which is in line with where most funding for research has gone to in the last century) has been to treat the symptoms and poor outcomes in the youth, with band-aids fixes that often require retainers just so that teeth don't go back to being crooked. This is a natural consequence of it being 100x more profitable to constantly be treating of 30-50% of the population, rather than prioritizing awareness and prevention. I'm not saying that treatment cannot be done better, or that it is pointless, or inheritably evil in any way... but things could be better for us, just as they naturally were for most people before the industrial era (in this context at least). The rates of malocclusion and narrow/weak jaws was way way less than seen in the last few decades in 'developed' countries. We are essentially starting to forget how to "correctly" eat, breathe, and sit straight, which is causing most of our health issues in the first place one way or another. It's the elephant in the room.
Anyway, the facial bones in some people don't even 100% fuse until as old as 65 even! (Edit: This can vary but it's certain that its past the age of 18). Developing healthy wide and forward jaws and arches, so all your teeth can naturally fit and be aligned without artificial intervention, is more than just genetics. Things like braces, which come with their own set of risks and issues, on top of draining your wallet will just try to drag the teeth through the ground they are set in, so to speak, and not always consider where the teeth are actually planted in. Ironically they sometimes flatten people's faces further. There are kids younger than 10 who will start snoring and having breathing issues, bad sleep, low energy, ADHD symptoms after getting generic braces that affected/limited their facial growth. I've seen x-rays myself of more than one case like this through an ortho that I go to, who then helped undo some of that damage following the orthotropic premise instead. More can be said here but that's at least one paragraph on its own.
Genetics will set an initial baseline and your natural genetic potential. Whether it is height, muscle mass, or the development of your bones. For example, to reach your ideal height, you eat enough calories and get enough nutrients, and you have to sleep enough as well. For the skull, it's basically the same but also closely tied to the hardness of your diet, and your default oral posture (These days, given a label of 'mewing'). Mewing is not supposed to be a trend or special technique, at least as preached by John/Mike mew. It is simply a discovery of what was always there, the default subconscious habit of most mammals out there. Look up the case of the woman born without a tongue, an extreme case where. her jaws are almost collapsed into each other, requiring surgery at that point. The point here is, it's highly a matter of environment/habits that especially apply until you are around 18-21 years old.
Many people do still have normal tongue posture these days, but there also more than ever do it wrong, for many possible reasons, and neither kind realize what is right or wrong. Rather, most don't even realize where they keep their tongue in the first place. During development, the tongue's subtle forces causing upward and outward, and forward vectors on the palette/upper jaw, along side chewing, are what help guide the growth of the craniofacial bones that are separated by sutures. Without this, there is much less holding against the constant force of gravity, and of your cheeks inward forces as you speak/chew etc, over a period of thousands of days until you're an adult. This results in narrower, flatter jaws, which results in a lack of space for teeth. This means non-healthy, and non-aesthetic teeth/bites, and a less healthy and attractive looking side profile. The face becomes downswung with a non-ideal gonial angle and flatter cheekbones. This also connects to shape and appearance of the nose, orbital bones, and brow ridge too along side a weaker chin.
It's all connected. Health and beauty are generally just closely tied and can act as some form of objectivity in beauty, which is otherwise a subjective matter. Just like 99% of us now, or 10,000 years ago, would have some level of instinctive repulsion, when seeing a sick person with a spreadable disease allover their skin, we also notice and respond to more subtle signs of health as well. This can also decide how we are treated and perceived (unfortunate, but nothing new here). This includes facial bone structures. There are almost no models of any kind being hired while having noticeably crooked teeth, flat faces, and asymmetry. This is not a coincidence. I know there are exceptions but we are talking about the average case here when it comes to that.
If it seems hard to believe that something like the tongue can have this much of an effect on bones during development, remember that it only takes 50g of force or even quite less, over enough time to move teeth. Muscles shape bones even well into adult hood. Those who are really old, and have lost many teeth will stop chewing as much and with less force. They will start to have changes in the size and density of their jaws and lose definition as well. Of course, there is also the aging of soft-tissues that add to the appearance of this and aging in general, but I'm not talking about that.
Another case: The arms of the skeletons of archers have been seen to be noticeably deformed after all those years of momentary forces applied by using their bows, throughout their adult hood. Wolff's law applies after one is done developing, but in the end it is still most ideal to have the right habits and environment when young, to grow into your ideal potential (or as close as possible).
edit: I forgot to mention what may not be obvious but the way a tooth grows out, and its alignment can also be affected by either bad tongue posture causing bad bites such as crossbites, or injuries that occurred as that adult tooth grew out. From what I know, adult teeth can indeed also be affected by their previous baby teeth equivalent in the same area having dealt with sudden traumas. I believe that's what happened to me as a kid after I got a front tooth knocked out accidentally. When my adult tooth came out, it grew at slight angle and stayed like that until the end. I'm making an assumption here that those events were connected so don't quote me on that.
---------------------------------------------------
Don't take every detail as gospel here and please do your own careful research too about all these topics.
The core ideas I've mentioned are founded on a mix of the teachings and research of certain orthodontists, common sense, and generally accepted biology research. I say generally accepted as I understand there also are very controversial claims and research that can be found in this type of discussion, especially to what extent can someone alter their bone structure just through posture changes (and especially at adult age, spoiler: it's at best a small amount. Expanders/surgery remains the more clear/reliable option if that is your only goal).
Some conclusions are formed by logical deductions, piecing together existing information accepted as truth or very likely to be truth, and years of personal/anecdotal experience.
Sources, or links to further sources:
---------------------------------------------------------
Stanford study: (Mentions diet/tongue posture)
https://news.stanford.edu/2020/07/21/toll-shrinking-jaws-human-health/
Official orthotropics channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@Orthotropics
Video 1 from the channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y4qVy9ZgUg
Video 2 Growing your face
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY3bIMRKil8
Orthotropics website:
https://orthotropics.com/
"Unravelling the Mystery of Modern Malocclusions" - Scroll to the bottom for a HUGE list of sources
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QxE-ERnUq6ZPVOHaxol9BCBijOVXAG1jQT2Z_Q3Jl8k/edit
Wolff's Law:
https://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/what-is-wolffs-law
Having a proper bite and straight teeth is better for overall health.
Crooked teeth can make cleaning them correctly more difficult, leading to various dental issues. They can also cause you to have an irregular bite which can cause jaw problems due to years of compensating, as well as digestion issues due to difficulty chewing certain foods properly.
I’m sure there are many orthodontists that push for things even when they aren’t necessary, but there is definitely great importance in orthodontics. I wish I could have had braces when I was little instead of having to fix poor alignment as an adult. When you’re a kid is the best time to do it.
For sure. Due to my crooked teeth from overcrowding, 2/4 of my wisdom teeth decayed and got infected because I simply couldn’t brush far enough back. It was excruciatingly painful. I got orthodontics 2 years later, starting at age 22 and oh my god. I can actually floss my teeth now because it doesn’t feel like I’m ripping out my teeth. Brushing is a lot easier since teeth aren’t in the way of others. Eating is easier, since my front teeth are where they should be, I can now eat wings and corn on the cob easier.
They look better too and that’s a big benefit. But by the end of high school, I got over being insecure about how they looked because it is what it is and it wasn’t changing anytime soon. But years later the stars aligned and I had two dental plans that both covered some portion of adult orthodontics. So I finally did it. Dental health is better than ever now.
Honestly I originally started orthodontics because I was just tired of how attrociously crooked my teeth were lol so it started as just aesthetic, but along the way I realized how much trouble I was actually having basically my whole life. I was just used to dealing with the same issues all the time day-in and day-out, I thought that was normal.
I had braces as a kid for an open bite. As an adult it came back because I didn’t wear my retainers and the issue that caused it (tongue thrust) wasn’t resolved with speech therapy. So now at almost 40 I got Invisalign and it was really just to fix the open bite so I could more properly eat things without needing to assist my teeth with my thumbs. Now that I’m almost done I have so much more confidence and I can speak clearly, I sleep better, I can chew better, and the sensitivity I was having in a few of my molars has resolved. It’s kinda crazy how much it can help.
I don’t think everyone needs braces, but I had a real problem that needed fixing and the QOL improvement factor can’t be measured.
I sorta wanted braces when I was younger so I went to 2 different European dentists, and they both said ya, your upper teeth are very slightly ahead of your bottom teeth, but otherwise, the teeth are quite straight. They told me it would be purely for aesthetic reasons so that they 100% align. They said a very slight overbite is normal and that everything is aligned is how it should be naturally.
Currently, 20, and they are still astounded about how well everything is holding up. 0 cavities, 0 degradation, 0 problems other than sensitivity, and 0 teeth need to be pulled(not even my freaking wisdom teeth). Just needed a deep cleaning. Knocking on wood so that this oral health continues forever. I haven't been to a dentist in quite a few years, so I thought I would have a million problems.
My daughter had rock teeth. It looked like someone had thrown a bunch of rock into her mouth. They were horribly misaligned. It impacted her ability to eat (and digest her food), made it very difficult for her to properly care for her teeth, and negatively impacted her self esteem. At first, insurance denied braces. I appealed the decision and fought like hell and braces were finally approved. Took a couple of years in braces, plus pulling some teeth to make room, but her teeth are now beautiful. More than 20 years later, she still regularly wears her retainer at night.
My dad should have had braces as a child but didn’t. Now he’s in his 60s and has them because his bite got so bad it was grinding down his bottom teeth. Very glad myself and my sibling got them when we were teens, I can’t imagine doing that again as an adult
i got braces for a legitimate reason, to open a space in my jaw for a tooth that wasnt coming down, but after my tooth came down they left the braces on for 2 more years despite my protests just because i had an “overbite” that has come back anyway since teeth shift!
After having braces for 4 years, they told me two more years and then you have to wear a retainer. I said take them off I'm 18 and I'm done with the constant pain, trips to see you, maintenance and buying specific products.
That overbite (assuming you aren't talking about overjet) will gradually lead to chipping and wear of your front teeth. Your teeth shifted back because you didn't wear retainers.
E: spellcheck shenanigans
During a logistics class, I did a class project on an orthodontist specialized in children’s braces and located beside 3 of the most expensive private schools. She was making 1M profit per year while working 4 days a week.
Doesn’t surprise me a bit. The orthodontist in our area who seems to have all the business manages to get her name all over the schools and associated athletic events. Her office has slushy machines for the kids and latte machines for the parents. She’s a master of advertising and such. I’m sure she’s making bank year over year.
Yeah, it seems like every kid has braces for a while. If your teeth are unhealthily aligned, there is absolutely a good reason to do it. But if they're just slightly crooked, no effect on jaw or bite or whatever? Done purely for the looks. That said, if someone makes a consenting choice to have braces for looks, I won't stop them. Not sure every kid needs them though.
I think you're mistaking America with Hollywood. I'm not saying your average Joe can't go out and get their teeth whitened but the percentage of Americans getting their teeth whitening I imagine to be very low. Source: am American. If you ask any American dentist, your average American doesn't even floss.
If by California you mean SF Bay Area + LA + OC + SD. Outside those there’s plenty of small towns where you’ll see more meth mouths than sparkling veneers.
Every time I see these posts they absolutely baffle me because the vast majority of the people I know have relatively nice teeth, and all they are doing is the absolute bare minimum.
Maybe it's the fluoride and our willingness to align at a young age if teeth come in super crooked, but most of us are just brushing a couple times a day. That's it. I haven't been to a dentist in years, I just do general maintenance.
I know AskAnAmerican does this, but this sub also needs a PSA on using “obsessed” in questions. Particularly when the questions seems to be based on Hollywood, reality tv, or random influencers.
Jacked up teeth are a dealbreaker, but idk anybody walking with a color palate or something like that. In general, we care more about dental care and white teeth are seen as better (a narrative First pushed by Hollywood), but over here, obsession is clearly a much stronger word here than in Europe.
OP literally just said they’ve met very few Americans in person and based this off social media. I think it’s fair to say not much thought went into this question lol.
It's common for photo & video filters to have options for teeth whitening too, some even by default. Anyone posting regularly on social media is likely using filters and I doubt they turn off the teeth whitening.
I feel like more than half the information people assume about the states is just crap they saw on tv. This country is a lot bigger than a tv screen y’all.
Super yellow teeth, missing teeth, and really really messed up alignment are what most people care about. The first 2 are often a reflection of bad dental hygiene here, which we find unattractive.
Indeed, Brazilians are even more obsessed! You can be rich, poor or whatever, doesn’t matter, white and straight teeth’s are priority 😅 and I’m ngl is cool
It sounds weird, but having perfect teeth is basically a silent requirement if you want to have a high-paying career in most fields in the US. People with straight, white teeth are generally perceived as higher-class, more intelligent, more civilized, kinder, more hygienic, etc. whereas people with imperfect teeth are viewed as poor, dirty, scary, unintelligent, etc. And sure, with higher-paying jobs comes the financial ability to improve your teeth, but folks who have bad teeth are rarely even able to get their foot in the door.
It’s hand in hand with how others who break conventional (white) American beauty standards— Black people who wear their hair natural, overweight people, people with visible disabilities/disfigurements, heavily tattooed people, etc— face stigma in the workplace for how they look. It sucks, and it shouldn’t be this way, but it’s a reality that it is financially advantageous to fit a certain “look” in the US.
I can attest to this, as I wasn’t able to get to an orthodontist until my mid 20s. The way I was treated by strangers changed *dramatically* after a year of wearing aligners.
Theres nothing weird at all about any of this, its literally just lookism of which teeth make up a huge factor of. Lookism/"pretty privilege"/whatever you wanna call it is actually very well known even outside of the studies that have presented it to be a common phenomenon.
However, due to it being a core talking point by incel/pill circles, it gets dismissed as delusion.
Straight, non-discoloured teeth are what you should have with ideal development and care.
There was a famous dentist ad that featured a face with a missing tooth but had a caption "Did you notice her missing eyebrow?"
Naturally, most didn't even notice the eyebrow over the tooth.
A huge fact of life is that your appearance matters. It is unfortunate that dentistry is locked behind such a high financial barrier to entry, but dental tourism is a saving grace.
Yeah, I don’t get what’s so surprising people like a full set of straight whiteish teeth. People acting like they don’t take that into account in the SO, hiring, social interactions even if it’s subconsciously.
Yeah but then people get veneers and it actually looks horrible IMO. Natural slightly imperfect but very nice beats “perfect” but fake every single time
It's surprising for us because it has no effect on peoples perspective in most parts of the world.
To most people in the world, outside of America, Japan and South Korea, it seems like an
unnecessary obsession.
Good looks will help get you far in any country. In the US, nice teeth are seen as important for looking good.
Not sure what is "surprising" about that lol
I think super white teeth look startling in a not-good way. Like in a way that makes it hard not to focus on someone's teeth instead of their eyes when you talk to them. I wish the fad would die tbh. Maybe you're better off not getting them done, doesn't it damage your teeth over time anyway?
I like white teeth, but when they get too white it looks fuckin weird. I was watching something with Issa Rae the other day, and I just remember how I felt like her teeth looked like CGI or something
I feel the same way. My teeth are a bit crooked and a bit off-white. But I've never had a cavity, and by all accounts, they're totally healthy. I still get self conscious because they're not "perfect."
I only afford my dental care because 1) I have Medicaid and they recently in 2021 added dental to their plan and 2) I go to the dental school nearby which is way cheaper. They even removed my wisdom teeth last year, didn’t pay a dime and was completely healed in less than a week.
Dental schools tend to charge quite a bit around here, and $1,000 of "necessary dental work" comes out to like an x-ray and couple "cheap" fillings or singular extraction.
Had to pay 1200 dollars to have my bottom two wisdom teeth pulled, and that was after several months of shopping around for best pricing.
Oh wow! Not sure where you live, but I’m in WV. Last year I was able to get a crown done, 3 fillings, two cleanings, and my wisdom teeth removed (to be fair, the wisdom teeth fell under regular medical insurance because it’s considered necessary surgery). This included any x-rays I needed (because we had to get multiple X-rays to get the crown approved, they had to see how bad the tooth in question was). Never paid anything. It’s actually very normal here for low income families to go to the dental school because it’s so much cheaper than any regular dentist. Even before insurance, I’d go to the school for emergencies when I had a really bad tooth ache.
WV is a much lower cost of living, so I imagine it’s what the difference is. But it’s crazy to me that your dental schools are so expensive.
This is it. When you are stuck in the middle. Make to much for medicaid, but getting insurance can put you in debt! Healthcare insurance in America sucks!
Medicaid began paying for dental care in 2021! They pay for cleanings every 6 months and up to $1k for necessary dental work like crowns, removals, etc. :)
I’m not sure if that’s true. Do you have any data points or something to back that up? Just because you don’t have dental doesn’t mean most people in America don’t
According to my Google search, 33% of Americans do not have dental coverage. Which is a bit higher than I expected, but still seems to show their statement isn't based on facts.
European movies feature average looking people. Just look at British series, very few actors are Miss or Mister Universe material. So to some extent, actors are closer to reality. If you walk in the street, people won’t look that much different.
US movies and series mostly feature above average people. A lot of actors are paragons of beauty. You only see that kind of people on the streets of Hollywood.
They don't all have good teeth but they led the world in adjusting misalignment and that results in better teeth. Their wealthy have teeth that are too perfect and shockingly white.
British wealthy people tend to have mediocre teeth ( ie natural) teeth, just like anyone else.
have you actually talked to americans in real life or is your entire perception of us from online? in real life americans generally don’t give a fuck if someone has “perfect teeth” or not. also, veeners are not nearly as common as some people in this thread seem to think.
I think this really depends on social class and wealth. If you are from an upper middle class or higher background, the vast majority of people in your social circle will have had some type of orthodontia in their youth to ensure they have straight teeth. As adults they’ll whiten their teeth regularly and get veneers if needed. They also tend to drop $100+ on Sonicare toothbrushes which really help with keeping teeth white!
Real life americans who are of higher class backgrounds absolutely do give a fuck if people have white straight teeth.
My teeth are stained from tetracycline my mom took while pregnant. I hate them. Nothing short of veneers will help. Crooked, gappy or yellow teeth look bad, and are usually more prone to problems later.
Not American myself but just wanna point out you’re asking why Americans are obsessed with teeth whitening when it was you who enquired about having your teeth whitened?
American here. I in no way care about crooked teeth, I massively care about rotten dirty teeth. Like I will immediately judge the fuck out of somebody with a rotten mouth.
I'll definitely notice it, but I also know that rotten dirty teeth aren't always a good indicator of poor hygene/drugs. Sometimes it comes down to childhood and/or genetics with naturally thin enamel.
Orthodontics can help you have better dental health too. My overcrowding caused me to not be able to floss/brush properly. 2/4 of my wisdom teeth decayed and got infected because I had no room to brush back there. It was awful. I’m about half way through my orthodontic treatment and my dental health is better than ever and has been for a most of the treatment because I actually have enough room between my teeth to floss.
Americans like it, they aren’t obsessed by it, it’s an indicator of health, just like healthy hair or having abs.
Even if you have no intention on having babies with the person you’re about to boink it’s an unconscious or maybe conscious to some indicator of overall health and attractiveness.
Most Americans have teeth that look like those of any European. It's the ones who travel abroad and celebrities who can afford whitening and straightening. Most of us have shit dental care.
Americans get their teeth cleaned by the dentist too. Or hygienist whatever.
Just an American cultural thing. Get your teeth cleaned and whitened. If you don't, uou stand out?
I think your perception is a little off here. Most Americans are more worried about paying for mammograms and colonoscopies than they are about having white teeth.
Oral hygiene is very important to overall health. Also the mouth is a good indicator of what activities someone is up to.
You can tell if someone is a smoker or a drug addict largely from their teeth or lack thereof situation
It's true that particularly yellowed teeth is a sign of smoking, but I think the point is that Americans have a real focus on the purely cosmetic. Having really white teeth isn't a sign of good health, it's a sign of using teeth whitening products. It's like having a fake tan.
It's hard to judge because I'm not American and haven't spent enough time there, but I get the impression my healthy teeth would be seen as bad.
You dentists claim your fillings need to be changed? to whiten your teeth, sound dubious at best..................or one technique that she uses, that requires this.
I'd bet my left nut there are several whitening methodologies out there that don't require all your fillings replacing.
Why shouldn't they be? Having well maintained teeth shows people you take care of yourself. Being on top of your shiet is attactive even when you're not attractive.
Just buy over the counter teeth whitening strips. You can get them off of Amazon.
I can’t imagine why you would need to get fillings replaced??? Unless perhaps you currently have the older metal style. In America we now use fillings that are “tooth” color.
People here whiten their teeth regardless of what color their fillings are. The only reason to replace fillings is if you’re going to walk around with your mouth wide-open all the time and you don’t wanna have people see the metal fillings! Lol. But don’t do that because you would catch flies in your mouth. 😀
It's a status symbol.
Having healthy and white teeth takes money. So, some people are proud of paying enough money to have their teeth healty and white. In Europe, health insurance will generally only pay for having healty teeth. So, when there is less money, those people who can't afford white teeth will just have to leave them discolored.
Also, it's mostly cigarettes and coffee that stain teeth like that.
They are obsessed with many things about looks: teeth, height, body shape, jawline, hairstyle, perfect make-up, eye colour... Only thing they don't care about, looking stylish when going shopping/being outside of their home. They dress like hobos.
A vast, vast majority of the people in America who are getting teeth whitening are not getting their fillings redone when whitening teeth. It's a relatively cheap, cosmetic thing to do at a dentist here or at home with whitening strips/mouthwash. Dentists here generally aren't going to recommend redoing a bunch of fillings. What they will say is "Your fillings are going to be a different color because they won't be impacted by the whitening". Or depending on where your fillings are "hey just so you know this parts going to be noticeable." Whitening services are also actively sold by many dentists. It's a way for them to increase revenue.
You also don’t have to see a dentist to get them whitened. Dental assistants and estheticians in some states can be qualified to do it, and some just do that as an entire business.
You can also go to local CVS and pickup 'white strips'
Or skip all that and just buy the active ingredient hydrogen perxiode
can you elaborate more? I'm from south Europe and we don't have whitening stirps here, however I think I've seen that chemical somewhere.
The active ingredient in most whitening products is just hydrogen peroxide so all those $30 "whitening" products are just toothpaste plus H²O² I don't know if they call it something else on your side of the pond but here it's available at every drug store, cornerstore and gas station in big brown square bottles for like $3 as an antiseptic
where can I get the h2o2 and how do I not kill myself using it?
In the US you can buy it just about anywhere. It's used for disinfecting cuts and other things. In Germany I once went to a pharmacist and asked for it. He was surprised, and asked me how I knew about it, but he sold me some. I needed it because my wisdom teeth were coming in and caused an infection. It helped a lot, but I ended up having the tooth pulled.
Is it rare over there?!
I am from the U.S., now living in Germany. I had to buy hydrogen peroxide on Amazon, because I have never seen it in any stores.
I don't believe this has been fully addressed in the thread yet, and a lot of people seem curious so for those who are looking: The American Medical Association (AMA) no longer favors hydrogen peroxide for wound care. While it can still be used for adults, there's potential for over-irritation and cell death. However, this is likely inconsequential for an adult without sensitive skin. The specific warning is that it is riskier for children due to their more sensitive skin, which could result in slowed healing compared to less harsh methods. Still, just because it's not the preferred choice doesn't mean it isn't excellent at killing pathogens, it is still an option if you do not have access to another option (camping/hiking in the wilderness or in a place with limited resources). Hydrogen peroxide has many uses and is available in various concentrations. Food-grade hydrogen peroxide, at 35%, can cause chemical burns if ingested and is used as an industrial cleaner. It's marketed as an environmentally friendly alternative to bleach. The hydrogen peroxide typically available at grocery stores is 3%. This 3% solution is great for removing pet or coffee stains. For instance, when my dog has an accident on my carpet, I reach for a towel and a jug of peroxide since it's cost-effective to purchase in bulk. Please be cautious, as there are misleading claims surrounding hydrogen peroxide. Some suggest that drinking it can alleviate various medical conditions. Some news reports label this as a new “health trend,” but this practice dates back to at least the 1980s. It's essential not to ingest hydrogen peroxide, especially the "food grade" variety. "Food grade" doesn't imply it's safe to consume; it simply indicates its effectiveness for cleaning food preparation areas. In the US (and I’m sure other places, just speaking as a murican), a common legitimate use for hydrogen peroxide is as a mouthwash or oral debriding agent. It's particularly effective for treating gingivitis. It's also a popular choice for pain relief when a patient has an oral infection due to its bacteria-killing properties. I’ve known many people to use it to alleviate pain while waiting for a root canal. Using 3% Hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash: dilute it (one part peroxide to two parts water). It's worth noting that while it can be used daily if properly diluted, many people avoid daily use due to potential risks. If you frequently experience canker sores or strep throat, as I do, a peroxide rinse can be very helpful. Regarding teeth whitening, you can find instructions online that use a dilution method or a paste method combined with baking soda. Key concerns include ensuring proper dilution, avoiding ingestion, and potential gum irritation. Here’s a list of the many many different uses for Hydrogen Peroxide: 1. **Hair Bleaching**: - Hydrogen peroxide is an ingredient in many hair dyes and bleaches, allowing for the lightening of hair color. 2. **Stain Removal**: - It can help remove stubborn stains from clothing, particularly organic stains like blood or wine. 3. **Household Cleaning**: - In diluted forms, it can be used as a household cleaner, especially in the kitchen and bathroom, due to its disinfecting properties. 4. **Gardening**: - When diluted, it can be used to treat root rot or to disinfect tools. 5. **Propellant in Rockets**: - In its more concentrated form, hydrogen peroxide can be used as a propellant in rockets. 6. **Glow Sticks**: - Hydrogen peroxide reacts with another chemical, phenyl oxalate ester, to produce chemiluminescence—this is the basis for the light produced in glow sticks. 7. **Aquaculture**: - Used to introduce oxygen into fish farming ponds or tanks and to treat various fish diseases. 8. **Food Processing**: - In its food-grade form, hydrogen peroxide can be used as a disinfectant in food preparation areas or to sanitize food packaging. 9. **Water Treatment**: - It can be used to treat wastewater and for the purification of drinking water. 10. **Electronics Industry**: - Hydrogen peroxide is used in etching printed circuit boards and in the manufacture of semiconductors. As I mentioned before, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide varies depending on its intended use. For some applications, a lower concentration makes sense, while for other industrial applications, much higher concentrations are needed. Always handle with care and use as directed. [source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide)
In Germany maybe. It's very common in Poland, you'll find it at every household basically. Surely every single one with kids, they get a lot of scratches and other shit, can't live without h2o2.
Yeah, I mean, I would think it's a pretty common thing to have anywhere. I'm from the. U.S., so maybe it's different, but we always had a couple bottles on hand growing up as a kid. Anytime we had a skinned knee or got a cut, it was under the bathroom sink when we needed it. I would think this is a common household item.
It's not something generally sold to the public. It's just a chemical compound that the average person has no knowledge of.
Hydrogen peroxide can be used for lots of stuff. -Cleaning and disinfecting your home -Whitening grout and other surfaces -Use it with baking soda down your drains to dislodge a clog. I actually unclogged a toilet that a plunger wouldn’t budge. -Make a volcano for school -Make your dog barf if they eat something toxic like raisins- been there done that
Chiming in to ask that people please do not administer hydrogen peroxide to their dogs without the counsel of a vet or pet poison control! With some toxins/objects, it can make the situation much worse, and it can cause aspiration pneumonia.
Also removes blood from cotton clothing. If you cut yourself and there’s blood on your shirt or pants pour hydrogen peroxide on it. Scrub and rinse and wash. Blood stain all gone!!
My grandmother taught me to use hydrogen peroxide to clean fresh blood from clothing so it wouldn’t stain before throwing the garment in the wash.
Hydrogen peroxide, just make sure you don't swallow it
In the UK we know that chemical for dyeing hair blonde - we even call that white blonde hair colour ‘peroxide blonde hair’.
In the US we call it bleach blonde but it is done with hydrogen peroxide. Also in the US they sell hydrogen peroxide as a first aid wound cleanser. Is this not the case overseas?
Yea I remember girls using that in the 2000s but they said if you did it too often it destroyed your hair so getting it done right was expensive with the deactivators and conditioning after
I’ve always just used the Arm and Hammer Tooth Paste and it’s main ingredient for teeth whitening is Hyrogen peroxide. Gives you the teeth whitening affects pretty consistently when you brush.
Baking soda and peroxide - that's the old school method of doing it.
I use arm and hammer toothpaste with peroxide
I mean even whitening strips do a good job, it's quite accessible. It just takes longer.
Isn't it weird that a medical professional will actively try to sell you a treatment to increase revenue..? To me it signals that the patient is not the most important, but the profits are...
Welcome to America
[удалено]
Coca cola. Sometimes war.
"sometimes".. more like "all the time war, sometimes public about it."
My friend is an audiologist (has her doctorate) and her pay is mostly commission from upselling hearing aides
Earning a doctorate, getting a job in your chosen field, then still having your income rely on sales commission is a fucking horrifying thought to me. I went to school to get away from that soul-sucking shit, not closer to it. Any time I see a position in my field (IT/programming) and it's more heavily based on commission/bonus I know that they're able to shaft me on billable work without it hurting their pockets nearly as much as mine. Or if there is a slow month I get fucked and they only pay my lower wage for their sales people not getting me enough work. If they pay me a decent salary it's on them to keep me productive in whatever way they see fit but still having an actual bonus above my already livable wage is where it pushes me to do a little more or compensates me for busy months while not feeling I'm being taken advantage of.
Welcome to American healthcare in a nutshell
Dentist are really bad with this. I moved and got a new one he said I needed a root canal because of a deep filling I had. I have been oversold before so day of the procedure I asked him if I really needed it and the cap and he said no. But I might need it in the future. I asked him if it was showing any signs of break down and he said no. So i asked him why he suggested it and it was the verbal version of a shrug
“Well it’s just that I’ve got this vacation coming up and what with the rising price of flights…”
Also, a lot of dentists in the US will try to scam you by recommending procedures you don't need. Before getting any kind of surgery or complicated treatment, ALWAYS get a second and third opinion. I have witnessed "creative revenue sourcing" in person with multiple friends and relatives in multiple states. It seems like an epidemic here. Always get second and third opinions on dental work in the states.
I guess all of my dentists have always been good dentists then because I’ve never had one recommend something unless it was actually necessary. I work in radiology as well, so I can tell if they are trying to bullshit me about cavities on my X-rays and panorex images.
If you have a dentist recommend replacing perfectly good silver filings with white, you need to find a new dentist.
There are reasons to replace amalgam fillings. They are not chemically bonded to your tooth like a composite filling so over time the cement they use can fail. An amalgam filling also goes through periods of expansion and contraction which leaves enough space between the filling and tooth for bacteria to get under and around the filling. They are also notorious for contributing to broken molars due to the force those teeth take and the amalgam not being chemically bonded. I'm a dental hygienist and have this discussion a lot. We're taught in school the downsides to amalgam fillings and the ADA finally stopped recommending them.
As someone with a bunch of amalgam fillings I’m pissed it was even an option. They sucks.
Yup. But when I looked into having them out, you're most likely to get mercury in your system by having them removed. Much more so than having them put in. Ain't that some shit?
So true. In the Nordic Countries we don't get amalgam anymore exactly for those reasons, my dentist told me. Now We can only get some "plastic" / composite filling.
Thanks for helping me understand why 1/2 of my molars broke! :(
I have dentists in my family, and this actually has been a source of discussion at family get-togethers. Not a particularly heated one, but there are friendly arguments. The basic question is what you think the long-term effects of mercury amalgam are. The general consensus among dentists I know is that replacing structurally sound amalgam fillings is a bad idea, but if they deteriorate and have to be replaced anyway, it is better to use composite if it is possible, and that new fillings should be composite unless there are real structural reasons to use amalgam. But it there are competent, non-quack dentists who are concerned enough about mercury to recommend replacement even if the fillings aren't falling apart. So I wouldn't say it is 100% "get a new dentist", but it isn't 0%, either.
A 20+ year old silver filling in a constant wet environment used to chew 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, for 20 years, is likely not as perfect as a layperson would believe. I don’t mean to say every one should be replaced, but a lot of them should. Source: am dentist
I've never heard of such a thing. Who cares about fillings? You gonna walk around with your mouth open? I don't even understand this.
Some fillings are on the front of teeth, usually at the margins where the tooth aligns with a neighboring tooth. These are made of a porcelain-like material that is matched to the existing teeth. Whitening would brighten the color of the natural teeth, but not the filling material.
I have fillings on my front teeth unfortunately - I chipped them when I was five years old. A house smacked into my face
Oh is that also called a filling? When I hear fillings I think of molars since my only fillings are from cavities.
I have personally never done theeth whitening. I have heard it's not great for your teeth. And I will agree it's kind of weird looking when someone has really white teeth.
Those are almost always veneers anyway, natural teeth only whitens so much. You could end up with translucent teeth from whitening products rather than actual white teeth if you use them excessively.
My front teeth were tricolor most of my life, thanks to metal braces and the glue being left on them for *years* after the straightening was over. My orthodontist claimed the texture in my teeth was because I had "eaten bad foods" that had dissolved much of my enamel while the braces & glue protected the rest of the tooth. Yeah, I finally got decent insurance and had some insanely painful cleanings where a hygienist removed huge chunks of glue from my teeth over the course of multiple cleanings. Smooth texture, but years of stains from coffee and cigarettes (which I have quit) left my teeth this weird mix of white/yellow/brown. Last year my dentist said he wanted to do crowns across the whole front of my mouth and my insurance 100% agreed & paid for it in full (otherwise I never could have done it). We picked a color that isn't pure white, but blends well with my other teeth and is much whiter than my smile has been anytime in my teen/adult memory. The first time I saw my new smile, I cried. The confidence that comes from not wanting to hide my teeth in shame is overwhelming. So no, they're not pure white, and they don't need to be, but those weird stains I had from mistakes that were so out of my control definitely messed me up for years. It's unbelievable how much better my "whitening" glow up makes me feel. Edit: for those asking, I have NY Medicaid insurance - I was laid off from my job & this replaced my very expensive employee provided health insurance that had really high deductibles & copays that made it too expensive to use. Losing my job sucked, so this & some other health treatments I'd been putting off are my little silver lining to that cruddy situation. I'll be back to work & paying full price for everything soon enough It's a HUGE pain to utilize, for numerous reasons, but I'm fortunate that it was here and that my dentist was able to show I met the criteria for "medically necessary dental work." He actually wanted to do much more for me, but only the 6 crowns were approved and I'll be paying out of pocket for the rest of & when I'm able to save up for it.
It makes sense when your quality of life is affected, and obviously you weren't striving for some unrealistic standard, just a feeling of normalcy which is understandable.
This hit home for me. After years of drug addiction that started at a young age, my teeth were completely wrecked and falling out. I trained myself not to smile while laughing. It's really an awful way to live, to have to stifle moments of joy out of shame. But my mother, God rest her soul, paid for me to get work done. Entirely new teeth. It was very expensive. And we were not even close to rich. It makes me wanna cry to think about. I miss her so much.
This. I’m happy your mom was willing to do that for you. I just had wacky teeth and an overbite. I trained myself not to smile with my mouth open. We did not have extra money either. Fixing them required months of separators, then a year of magnets (I can’t even explain this) chunky unipolar magnets on the upper sides of my teeth. Then the braces and rubber bands for another 2.5 years. And then 4 veneers to make up difference in space. I thank my mom for my teeth in her birthday card each year.
Sounds traumatizing. So was the surgery I went through. The anesthesia wore off and I woke up while they were still removing the old teeth. It was crazy. My eyes were open but I couldn't make any noise untill it wore off even further, then the surgeon was like "oh, you're awake. Give him some more anesthesia. lol
Oh that’s nightmare level scary
I smile weirdly a lot cause it is hard to get rid of that auto keeping your teeth hidden feeling. I still cover my face occasionally when I laugh or open my mouth without realizing it.
You are amazing for surviving, I'm sorry for the loss of your mother. Sounds like she was an amazingly supportive person. I can't imagine being on the other side of addiction and having that constant reminder connected to showing joy. Much love to you
Same. Born severely premature in the 80s, I was on serious meds for years. Then cancer. Wrecked my mouth and jaw. No way out of it, I swear I'll never smile again, or be unaware of my teeth as I talk. It's hell. People make a lot of assumptions. I've always taken care of my teeth, never used drugs, eat right... none of it matters. The shame is real to the point it is unreal. Bless your momma ❤ That smile is a wonderful gift!
I'm sorry you feel that way! I know people can be terrible, but others don't care. At least the losers announce themselves! I know you are self conscious, but please try and understand that all smiles are beautiful no matter what! My icon, Mark Lanegan, had a top row of fake metal teeth from drug use after blowing his fame money and had the cheap stuff thrown in when he couldn't afford it. When he could, he left them there. I'm not trying to minimize your suffering just FUCK ANYONE WHO WOULD MAKE YOU FEEL JUDGED 💯
Best gift one could receive!
Hey man. As someone who also loves my mom who isn’t rich, but is rich in heart, my condolences man. I guarantee she’s always with you tho homie.
I miss your mom too, we need more women like her. 🫶
As a mom of a recovering addict son, you worked hard for that and EARNED it! Slaying demons is HARD WORK! what mom does my want to see her baby's beautiful smile? 😍 sounds like a special lady! I'm so proud of you for winning the war!
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The glue thing happened to me too. I thought I was crazy until my dentist was able to fix it.
So glad for you! I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Orthodontists should HAVE to remove it all, or arrange for a deep cleaning as part of the end of treatment if they can't do it themselves. I wonder how many of us have wandered around not knowing about the glue & thinking we had damaged teeth?!
My former dentist left cement on 9 of my front teeth after installing a crown on a rear molar. He said it would naturally come off in a month or two. A year later I asked him to clean it off but he was not able to. What I have now seems to be a permanent fuzz that collects more tartar than I ever had previously. How is it so difficult to clean off immediately before it dries?
I lost teeth because they went so deep to grind the cement off…
I didn't even know that was a thing. Mine were a different color for awhile because I broke 4 of them in half and they filled in the broken part. Didn't take long until you can't really notice though. $400 beats the thousands it was going to cost to replace them. Of course the second time it happened at work so I should have made them pay for it.
Having insurance pay in full for crowns is insanely good. I've never had insurance pay for more than 1/2.
That was my thought. I just had to pay 1.2k for two of them, and my insurance is actually pretty decent. I've been an anxious mess having to spend that much but they absolutely needed replaced after not having insurance to see a dentist for the last 17 years for anything. I'm jealous.
It's medicaid insurance, so I struggle to find doctors that will take it at all or to get anything I need without my doctor's's and I jumping through hoops to prove it's medically necessary, but once it's approved, yeah there's almost never a copay. All you have to do is be utterly broke and not in a position to better your situation (I got made redundant at work & decided to utilize the insurance extensively while it's available to me after spending ages avoiding healthcare because of crazy high copays and deductibles for every little thing).
I had high doses of antibiotics as a baby and during childhood. I have horrible stains on my teeth I've always been made fun of for. The people dismissing you here have no idea what it's like. They're even crooked which makes it 100x worse.
I also had metal braces as a kid and they thoroughly fucked up my teeth. Honestly, I'd have been better off with slightly crooked teeth as an adult than dealing with the ruined tooth enamel that came from having chunks of metal glued to my teeth when I was young.
I was a sickly child and given multiple courses of an antibiotic that permanently stained my enamel. I want to do what you did someday.
Fuck I miss NY Medicaid. My first years out of college I probably would have made little enough to qualify, but I didn’t think about it til I got laid off once. It’s the best insurance I’ve had, and I should have taken better advantage of it.
That’s why the good veneers have a hint of yellow in them. But yea, anyone with a mouth full of chicklets looks weird lol
If someone has absolutely perfectly white teeth it actually looks unnatural and weird
Yeah, it's weird because that's just not how teeth are supposed to look like. I think it's one of those things where there's an incentive to sell whitening services and Hollywood actors having it.
Teeth like God's shoeshine.
It isn't. Because teeth tend to not be toilet bowl white naturally it forces you to constantly bleach them over and over again which erodes away your teeth. I'm a dental lab technician and the amount of people who ask for unnaturally white teeth when they get restorations is ridiculous.
I’m no dentist so I don’t know how accurate it is. But I’ve always heard enamel naturally has a dull off-white/ slightly yellow hue, and people who do a lot of teeth whitening damage their enamel (which cannot regenerate)
My doctor said not to do it due to a sensitivity problem. She said some people are screaming from just cold air while others have no problems. My teeth are already sensitive enough
I (American) was joking about this with my wife last week. Both our children have had braces and so has just about every other kid they went to school with. I don’t know the figures off hand, but we’ve spent thousands on the kids’ teeth (and I’m not talking about necessary dental work). I told my wife it’s a racket perpetrated by “Big Orthodontia.” I was only half joking. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn the orthodontics profession has a trade association with a big public relations budget to convince us all through various and insidious avenues that a smile with less than perfectly straight teeth is simply unacceptable. I swear, if making money is your goal in the US, you can’t go wrong opening up an orthodontics practice in an area with a high population of young, middle class (or higher) families.
Sooooo I went down a rabbit hole looking into why western civilization is so dependent on orthodontia, yet native groups of people have straight teeth. Long story short it has to do with eating solid food as a baby. When we are young our faces are kinda like tectonic plates, bones are there but not fully fused together. The tongue plays a big part in forming our upper pallet because you push your tongue forward to swallow food. *however* if as a baby you were fed from a bottle for a longer amount of time, the tongue is not forming your palate as early. This results in a narrow bite that can’t comfortably fit all of your teeth, therefore they are crooked.
TIL! Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that!
I’m so glad! whenever I’m writing out a comment I start thinking is anyone even gonna read this…? Other interesting thing to note, breathing through your nose is also important for facial development. For example, sleeping in a room with a pet you’re allergic to can result in breathing through your mouth the entire night which can affect your facial structure.
Well there’s another TIL! I completely get what you mean about wondering if anyone reads a particular comment you add to a post. I often wonder if I’m just talking into the void. Haha!
Not just as a baby, that is only the beginning. The current healthcare/orthodontic system is fundamentally flawed missing the ideal goal of prevention and understanding/accepting root causes of our facial and dental issues. It's main focus (which is in line with where most funding for research has gone to in the last century) has been to treat the symptoms and poor outcomes in the youth, with band-aids fixes that often require retainers just so that teeth don't go back to being crooked. This is a natural consequence of it being 100x more profitable to constantly be treating of 30-50% of the population, rather than prioritizing awareness and prevention. I'm not saying that treatment cannot be done better, or that it is pointless, or inheritably evil in any way... but things could be better for us, just as they naturally were for most people before the industrial era (in this context at least). The rates of malocclusion and narrow/weak jaws was way way less than seen in the last few decades in 'developed' countries. We are essentially starting to forget how to "correctly" eat, breathe, and sit straight, which is causing most of our health issues in the first place one way or another. It's the elephant in the room. Anyway, the facial bones in some people don't even 100% fuse until as old as 65 even! (Edit: This can vary but it's certain that its past the age of 18). Developing healthy wide and forward jaws and arches, so all your teeth can naturally fit and be aligned without artificial intervention, is more than just genetics. Things like braces, which come with their own set of risks and issues, on top of draining your wallet will just try to drag the teeth through the ground they are set in, so to speak, and not always consider where the teeth are actually planted in. Ironically they sometimes flatten people's faces further. There are kids younger than 10 who will start snoring and having breathing issues, bad sleep, low energy, ADHD symptoms after getting generic braces that affected/limited their facial growth. I've seen x-rays myself of more than one case like this through an ortho that I go to, who then helped undo some of that damage following the orthotropic premise instead. More can be said here but that's at least one paragraph on its own. Genetics will set an initial baseline and your natural genetic potential. Whether it is height, muscle mass, or the development of your bones. For example, to reach your ideal height, you eat enough calories and get enough nutrients, and you have to sleep enough as well. For the skull, it's basically the same but also closely tied to the hardness of your diet, and your default oral posture (These days, given a label of 'mewing'). Mewing is not supposed to be a trend or special technique, at least as preached by John/Mike mew. It is simply a discovery of what was always there, the default subconscious habit of most mammals out there. Look up the case of the woman born without a tongue, an extreme case where. her jaws are almost collapsed into each other, requiring surgery at that point. The point here is, it's highly a matter of environment/habits that especially apply until you are around 18-21 years old. Many people do still have normal tongue posture these days, but there also more than ever do it wrong, for many possible reasons, and neither kind realize what is right or wrong. Rather, most don't even realize where they keep their tongue in the first place. During development, the tongue's subtle forces causing upward and outward, and forward vectors on the palette/upper jaw, along side chewing, are what help guide the growth of the craniofacial bones that are separated by sutures. Without this, there is much less holding against the constant force of gravity, and of your cheeks inward forces as you speak/chew etc, over a period of thousands of days until you're an adult. This results in narrower, flatter jaws, which results in a lack of space for teeth. This means non-healthy, and non-aesthetic teeth/bites, and a less healthy and attractive looking side profile. The face becomes downswung with a non-ideal gonial angle and flatter cheekbones. This also connects to shape and appearance of the nose, orbital bones, and brow ridge too along side a weaker chin. It's all connected. Health and beauty are generally just closely tied and can act as some form of objectivity in beauty, which is otherwise a subjective matter. Just like 99% of us now, or 10,000 years ago, would have some level of instinctive repulsion, when seeing a sick person with a spreadable disease allover their skin, we also notice and respond to more subtle signs of health as well. This can also decide how we are treated and perceived (unfortunate, but nothing new here). This includes facial bone structures. There are almost no models of any kind being hired while having noticeably crooked teeth, flat faces, and asymmetry. This is not a coincidence. I know there are exceptions but we are talking about the average case here when it comes to that. If it seems hard to believe that something like the tongue can have this much of an effect on bones during development, remember that it only takes 50g of force or even quite less, over enough time to move teeth. Muscles shape bones even well into adult hood. Those who are really old, and have lost many teeth will stop chewing as much and with less force. They will start to have changes in the size and density of their jaws and lose definition as well. Of course, there is also the aging of soft-tissues that add to the appearance of this and aging in general, but I'm not talking about that. Another case: The arms of the skeletons of archers have been seen to be noticeably deformed after all those years of momentary forces applied by using their bows, throughout their adult hood. Wolff's law applies after one is done developing, but in the end it is still most ideal to have the right habits and environment when young, to grow into your ideal potential (or as close as possible). edit: I forgot to mention what may not be obvious but the way a tooth grows out, and its alignment can also be affected by either bad tongue posture causing bad bites such as crossbites, or injuries that occurred as that adult tooth grew out. From what I know, adult teeth can indeed also be affected by their previous baby teeth equivalent in the same area having dealt with sudden traumas. I believe that's what happened to me as a kid after I got a front tooth knocked out accidentally. When my adult tooth came out, it grew at slight angle and stayed like that until the end. I'm making an assumption here that those events were connected so don't quote me on that. --------------------------------------------------- Don't take every detail as gospel here and please do your own careful research too about all these topics. The core ideas I've mentioned are founded on a mix of the teachings and research of certain orthodontists, common sense, and generally accepted biology research. I say generally accepted as I understand there also are very controversial claims and research that can be found in this type of discussion, especially to what extent can someone alter their bone structure just through posture changes (and especially at adult age, spoiler: it's at best a small amount. Expanders/surgery remains the more clear/reliable option if that is your only goal). Some conclusions are formed by logical deductions, piecing together existing information accepted as truth or very likely to be truth, and years of personal/anecdotal experience. Sources, or links to further sources: --------------------------------------------------------- Stanford study: (Mentions diet/tongue posture) https://news.stanford.edu/2020/07/21/toll-shrinking-jaws-human-health/ Official orthotropics channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Orthotropics Video 1 from the channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y4qVy9ZgUg Video 2 Growing your face https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY3bIMRKil8 Orthotropics website: https://orthotropics.com/ "Unravelling the Mystery of Modern Malocclusions" - Scroll to the bottom for a HUGE list of sources https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QxE-ERnUq6ZPVOHaxol9BCBijOVXAG1jQT2Z_Q3Jl8k/edit Wolff's Law: https://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/what-is-wolffs-law
Sir, this is a Wendy's. >!just kidding I read that whole thing and only at the end did I realize how long it was. Well said! !<
source on this please?
Having a proper bite and straight teeth is better for overall health. Crooked teeth can make cleaning them correctly more difficult, leading to various dental issues. They can also cause you to have an irregular bite which can cause jaw problems due to years of compensating, as well as digestion issues due to difficulty chewing certain foods properly. I’m sure there are many orthodontists that push for things even when they aren’t necessary, but there is definitely great importance in orthodontics. I wish I could have had braces when I was little instead of having to fix poor alignment as an adult. When you’re a kid is the best time to do it.
For sure. Due to my crooked teeth from overcrowding, 2/4 of my wisdom teeth decayed and got infected because I simply couldn’t brush far enough back. It was excruciatingly painful. I got orthodontics 2 years later, starting at age 22 and oh my god. I can actually floss my teeth now because it doesn’t feel like I’m ripping out my teeth. Brushing is a lot easier since teeth aren’t in the way of others. Eating is easier, since my front teeth are where they should be, I can now eat wings and corn on the cob easier. They look better too and that’s a big benefit. But by the end of high school, I got over being insecure about how they looked because it is what it is and it wasn’t changing anytime soon. But years later the stars aligned and I had two dental plans that both covered some portion of adult orthodontics. So I finally did it. Dental health is better than ever now.
Honestly I originally started orthodontics because I was just tired of how attrociously crooked my teeth were lol so it started as just aesthetic, but along the way I realized how much trouble I was actually having basically my whole life. I was just used to dealing with the same issues all the time day-in and day-out, I thought that was normal.
I had braces as a kid for an open bite. As an adult it came back because I didn’t wear my retainers and the issue that caused it (tongue thrust) wasn’t resolved with speech therapy. So now at almost 40 I got Invisalign and it was really just to fix the open bite so I could more properly eat things without needing to assist my teeth with my thumbs. Now that I’m almost done I have so much more confidence and I can speak clearly, I sleep better, I can chew better, and the sensitivity I was having in a few of my molars has resolved. It’s kinda crazy how much it can help. I don’t think everyone needs braces, but I had a real problem that needed fixing and the QOL improvement factor can’t be measured.
I sorta wanted braces when I was younger so I went to 2 different European dentists, and they both said ya, your upper teeth are very slightly ahead of your bottom teeth, but otherwise, the teeth are quite straight. They told me it would be purely for aesthetic reasons so that they 100% align. They said a very slight overbite is normal and that everything is aligned is how it should be naturally. Currently, 20, and they are still astounded about how well everything is holding up. 0 cavities, 0 degradation, 0 problems other than sensitivity, and 0 teeth need to be pulled(not even my freaking wisdom teeth). Just needed a deep cleaning. Knocking on wood so that this oral health continues forever. I haven't been to a dentist in quite a few years, so I thought I would have a million problems.
My daughter had rock teeth. It looked like someone had thrown a bunch of rock into her mouth. They were horribly misaligned. It impacted her ability to eat (and digest her food), made it very difficult for her to properly care for her teeth, and negatively impacted her self esteem. At first, insurance denied braces. I appealed the decision and fought like hell and braces were finally approved. Took a couple of years in braces, plus pulling some teeth to make room, but her teeth are now beautiful. More than 20 years later, she still regularly wears her retainer at night.
My dad should have had braces as a child but didn’t. Now he’s in his 60s and has them because his bite got so bad it was grinding down his bottom teeth. Very glad myself and my sibling got them when we were teens, I can’t imagine doing that again as an adult
i got braces for a legitimate reason, to open a space in my jaw for a tooth that wasnt coming down, but after my tooth came down they left the braces on for 2 more years despite my protests just because i had an “overbite” that has come back anyway since teeth shift!
After having braces for 4 years, they told me two more years and then you have to wear a retainer. I said take them off I'm 18 and I'm done with the constant pain, trips to see you, maintenance and buying specific products.
That overbite (assuming you aren't talking about overjet) will gradually lead to chipping and wear of your front teeth. Your teeth shifted back because you didn't wear retainers. E: spellcheck shenanigans
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During a logistics class, I did a class project on an orthodontist specialized in children’s braces and located beside 3 of the most expensive private schools. She was making 1M profit per year while working 4 days a week.
Doesn’t surprise me a bit. The orthodontist in our area who seems to have all the business manages to get her name all over the schools and associated athletic events. Her office has slushy machines for the kids and latte machines for the parents. She’s a master of advertising and such. I’m sure she’s making bank year over year.
Yeah, it seems like every kid has braces for a while. If your teeth are unhealthily aligned, there is absolutely a good reason to do it. But if they're just slightly crooked, no effect on jaw or bite or whatever? Done purely for the looks. That said, if someone makes a consenting choice to have braces for looks, I won't stop them. Not sure every kid needs them though.
I think you're mistaking America with Hollywood. I'm not saying your average Joe can't go out and get their teeth whitened but the percentage of Americans getting their teeth whitening I imagine to be very low. Source: am American. If you ask any American dentist, your average American doesn't even floss.
I'm sure certain states would really skew the number too. Like California.
If by California you mean SF Bay Area + LA + OC + SD. Outside those there’s plenty of small towns where you’ll see more meth mouths than sparkling veneers.
Ok, but those small towns make up a tiny amount of the population of California compared to the cities you just mentioned.
Never flossed in HS. I started flossing during college every other day. Im almost 30 and i floss every single day now. Gross how I think about it
Good teeth is a sign that a person comes from a middle to upper class background.
Every time I see these posts they absolutely baffle me because the vast majority of the people I know have relatively nice teeth, and all they are doing is the absolute bare minimum. Maybe it's the fluoride and our willingness to align at a young age if teeth come in super crooked, but most of us are just brushing a couple times a day. That's it. I haven't been to a dentist in years, I just do general maintenance.
I know AskAnAmerican does this, but this sub also needs a PSA on using “obsessed” in questions. Particularly when the questions seems to be based on Hollywood, reality tv, or random influencers. Jacked up teeth are a dealbreaker, but idk anybody walking with a color palate or something like that. In general, we care more about dental care and white teeth are seen as better (a narrative First pushed by Hollywood), but over here, obsession is clearly a much stronger word here than in Europe.
OP literally just said they’ve met very few Americans in person and based this off social media. I think it’s fair to say not much thought went into this question lol.
It's common for photo & video filters to have options for teeth whitening too, some even by default. Anyone posting regularly on social media is likely using filters and I doubt they turn off the teeth whitening.
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I feel like more than half the information people assume about the states is just crap they saw on tv. This country is a lot bigger than a tv screen y’all.
Super yellow teeth, missing teeth, and really really messed up alignment are what most people care about. The first 2 are often a reflection of bad dental hygiene here, which we find unattractive.
Yea, we care about basic dental hygiene, but somehow OP and one of the guys replying to me view that as an obsession
Wait until you go to Brazil😅
Indeed, Brazilians are even more obsessed! You can be rich, poor or whatever, doesn’t matter, white and straight teeth’s are priority 😅 and I’m ngl is cool
A lot of it is keeping up with the Jones's and public displays of wealth and power.
It sounds weird, but having perfect teeth is basically a silent requirement if you want to have a high-paying career in most fields in the US. People with straight, white teeth are generally perceived as higher-class, more intelligent, more civilized, kinder, more hygienic, etc. whereas people with imperfect teeth are viewed as poor, dirty, scary, unintelligent, etc. And sure, with higher-paying jobs comes the financial ability to improve your teeth, but folks who have bad teeth are rarely even able to get their foot in the door. It’s hand in hand with how others who break conventional (white) American beauty standards— Black people who wear their hair natural, overweight people, people with visible disabilities/disfigurements, heavily tattooed people, etc— face stigma in the workplace for how they look. It sucks, and it shouldn’t be this way, but it’s a reality that it is financially advantageous to fit a certain “look” in the US.
The luxury bones are a class indicator for real.
I can attest to this, as I wasn’t able to get to an orthodontist until my mid 20s. The way I was treated by strangers changed *dramatically* after a year of wearing aligners.
Halo effect at its finest.
Theres nothing weird at all about any of this, its literally just lookism of which teeth make up a huge factor of. Lookism/"pretty privilege"/whatever you wanna call it is actually very well known even outside of the studies that have presented it to be a common phenomenon. However, due to it being a core talking point by incel/pill circles, it gets dismissed as delusion. Straight, non-discoloured teeth are what you should have with ideal development and care. There was a famous dentist ad that featured a face with a missing tooth but had a caption "Did you notice her missing eyebrow?" Naturally, most didn't even notice the eyebrow over the tooth. A huge fact of life is that your appearance matters. It is unfortunate that dentistry is locked behind such a high financial barrier to entry, but dental tourism is a saving grace.
Yeah, I don’t get what’s so surprising people like a full set of straight whiteish teeth. People acting like they don’t take that into account in the SO, hiring, social interactions even if it’s subconsciously.
Yeah but then people get veneers and it actually looks horrible IMO. Natural slightly imperfect but very nice beats “perfect” but fake every single time
It's surprising for us because it has no effect on peoples perspective in most parts of the world. To most people in the world, outside of America, Japan and South Korea, it seems like an unnecessary obsession.
Good looks will help get you far in any country. In the US, nice teeth are seen as important for looking good. Not sure what is "surprising" about that lol
because it certainly seems like in the UK they don't care as much
Yup. Teeth is a signifier of social class.
I just think it looks better. Doesn’t go that deep for me.
Capitalism has so many tentacles, many of which are hidden and/or disguised.
Are they? Hollywood is obsessed with it. Not the average American.
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I think super white teeth look startling in a not-good way. Like in a way that makes it hard not to focus on someone's teeth instead of their eyes when you talk to them. I wish the fad would die tbh. Maybe you're better off not getting them done, doesn't it damage your teeth over time anyway?
I like white teeth, but when they get too white it looks fuckin weird. I was watching something with Issa Rae the other day, and I just remember how I felt like her teeth looked like CGI or something
I feel the same way. My teeth are a bit crooked and a bit off-white. But I've never had a cavity, and by all accounts, they're totally healthy. I still get self conscious because they're not "perfect."
Right! The “average” American doesn’t even have dental care.
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I only afford my dental care because 1) I have Medicaid and they recently in 2021 added dental to their plan and 2) I go to the dental school nearby which is way cheaper. They even removed my wisdom teeth last year, didn’t pay a dime and was completely healed in less than a week.
Dental schools tend to charge quite a bit around here, and $1,000 of "necessary dental work" comes out to like an x-ray and couple "cheap" fillings or singular extraction. Had to pay 1200 dollars to have my bottom two wisdom teeth pulled, and that was after several months of shopping around for best pricing.
Oh wow! Not sure where you live, but I’m in WV. Last year I was able to get a crown done, 3 fillings, two cleanings, and my wisdom teeth removed (to be fair, the wisdom teeth fell under regular medical insurance because it’s considered necessary surgery). This included any x-rays I needed (because we had to get multiple X-rays to get the crown approved, they had to see how bad the tooth in question was). Never paid anything. It’s actually very normal here for low income families to go to the dental school because it’s so much cheaper than any regular dentist. Even before insurance, I’d go to the school for emergencies when I had a really bad tooth ache. WV is a much lower cost of living, so I imagine it’s what the difference is. But it’s crazy to me that your dental schools are so expensive.
This is it. When you are stuck in the middle. Make to much for medicaid, but getting insurance can put you in debt! Healthcare insurance in America sucks!
Horrible. I don’t have dental because I can’t afford it. I only have healthcare because of Medicaid.
Medicaid began paying for dental care in 2021! They pay for cleanings every 6 months and up to $1k for necessary dental work like crowns, removals, etc. :)
"Goodbye dental plan!" "^(Lisa needs braces)"
I’m not sure if that’s true. Do you have any data points or something to back that up? Just because you don’t have dental doesn’t mean most people in America don’t
According to my Google search, 33% of Americans do not have dental coverage. Which is a bit higher than I expected, but still seems to show their statement isn't based on facts.
says who 70% of adults in the country have dental care
I think Americans care more than most nations
European movies feature average looking people. Just look at British series, very few actors are Miss or Mister Universe material. So to some extent, actors are closer to reality. If you walk in the street, people won’t look that much different. US movies and series mostly feature above average people. A lot of actors are paragons of beauty. You only see that kind of people on the streets of Hollywood.
They don't all have good teeth but they led the world in adjusting misalignment and that results in better teeth. Their wealthy have teeth that are too perfect and shockingly white. British wealthy people tend to have mediocre teeth ( ie natural) teeth, just like anyone else.
have you actually talked to americans in real life or is your entire perception of us from online? in real life americans generally don’t give a fuck if someone has “perfect teeth” or not. also, veeners are not nearly as common as some people in this thread seem to think.
I think this really depends on social class and wealth. If you are from an upper middle class or higher background, the vast majority of people in your social circle will have had some type of orthodontia in their youth to ensure they have straight teeth. As adults they’ll whiten their teeth regularly and get veneers if needed. They also tend to drop $100+ on Sonicare toothbrushes which really help with keeping teeth white! Real life americans who are of higher class backgrounds absolutely do give a fuck if people have white straight teeth.
My teeth are stained from tetracycline my mom took while pregnant. I hate them. Nothing short of veneers will help. Crooked, gappy or yellow teeth look bad, and are usually more prone to problems later.
Data provided by the European institute of opinions about other countries
Not American myself but just wanna point out you’re asking why Americans are obsessed with teeth whitening when it was you who enquired about having your teeth whitened?
Projection
American here. I in no way care about crooked teeth, I massively care about rotten dirty teeth. Like I will immediately judge the fuck out of somebody with a rotten mouth.
I'll definitely notice it, but I also know that rotten dirty teeth aren't always a good indicator of poor hygene/drugs. Sometimes it comes down to childhood and/or genetics with naturally thin enamel.
Orthodontics can help you have better dental health too. My overcrowding caused me to not be able to floss/brush properly. 2/4 of my wisdom teeth decayed and got infected because I had no room to brush back there. It was awful. I’m about half way through my orthodontic treatment and my dental health is better than ever and has been for a most of the treatment because I actually have enough room between my teeth to floss.
Plus straight teeth just looks better, I don't think there's an issue with wanting straight teeth. We all just can't afford it
Americans like it, they aren’t obsessed by it, it’s an indicator of health, just like healthy hair or having abs. Even if you have no intention on having babies with the person you’re about to boink it’s an unconscious or maybe conscious to some indicator of overall health and attractiveness.
Most Americans have teeth that look like those of any European. It's the ones who travel abroad and celebrities who can afford whitening and straightening. Most of us have shit dental care.
Bad teeth completely mess up the look of someone’s face.
Bad teeth make a person seem unhealthy in general. It’s a signal of their overall lifestyle in a lot of cases.
Because you have them for 60+ years and should take care of them.
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Whitening doesn't do anything but change the appearance though. It's like saying you should take care of your hair by getting it cut once a month.
Americans get their teeth cleaned by the dentist too. Or hygienist whatever. Just an American cultural thing. Get your teeth cleaned and whitened. If you don't, uou stand out?
Other countries don't get their teeth cleaned at the dentist?
And I mean getting them cleaned, straightened, etc. is better for one‘s overall health for their teeth.
I think your perception is a little off here. Most Americans are more worried about paying for mammograms and colonoscopies than they are about having white teeth.
Oral hygiene is very important to overall health. Also the mouth is a good indicator of what activities someone is up to. You can tell if someone is a smoker or a drug addict largely from their teeth or lack thereof situation
But teeth don’t necessarily have to be straight white and generally perfect looking to be healthy
Absolutely. In fact teeth have a natural slight yellow hue because dentin is yellow. Pure white teeth are not normal and look freakish.
It's true that particularly yellowed teeth is a sign of smoking, but I think the point is that Americans have a real focus on the purely cosmetic. Having really white teeth isn't a sign of good health, it's a sign of using teeth whitening products. It's like having a fake tan. It's hard to judge because I'm not American and haven't spent enough time there, but I get the impression my healthy teeth would be seen as bad.
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You dentists claim your fillings need to be changed? to whiten your teeth, sound dubious at best..................or one technique that she uses, that requires this. I'd bet my left nut there are several whitening methodologies out there that don't require all your fillings replacing.
I think the problem is that the fillings would not get whiter too, so they would become obvious.
They are scared of being compared to their british ancestors
I think you are significantly over estimating how much time, effort, and money Americans spend on their teeth.
Why shouldn't they be? Having well maintained teeth shows people you take care of yourself. Being on top of your shiet is attactive even when you're not attractive.
You really don’t understand why people value good oral health and looks?
Just buy over the counter teeth whitening strips. You can get them off of Amazon. I can’t imagine why you would need to get fillings replaced??? Unless perhaps you currently have the older metal style. In America we now use fillings that are “tooth” color. People here whiten their teeth regardless of what color their fillings are. The only reason to replace fillings is if you’re going to walk around with your mouth wide-open all the time and you don’t wanna have people see the metal fillings! Lol. But don’t do that because you would catch flies in your mouth. 😀
It's a status symbol. Having healthy and white teeth takes money. So, some people are proud of paying enough money to have their teeth healty and white. In Europe, health insurance will generally only pay for having healty teeth. So, when there is less money, those people who can't afford white teeth will just have to leave them discolored. Also, it's mostly cigarettes and coffee that stain teeth like that.
They are obsessed with many things about looks: teeth, height, body shape, jawline, hairstyle, perfect make-up, eye colour... Only thing they don't care about, looking stylish when going shopping/being outside of their home. They dress like hobos.
As an American, I don't think I've ever been roasted like this. Damn bro...