Here for the History - Do Brits Have Bad Teeth?

British people have terrible teeth. That’s the stereotype - but is it true? And what’s the story behind it?

Ben Henderson and Alice Loxton explore how Brits got a reputation for bad teeth thanks to our love of sugar, and we see how British and American teeth took wildly different paths after the Second World War.

Key Sources:

June Thomas - Journalist.

The Bad-Mouthing of British Teeth - Decoder Ring podcast.

Drills, Dentures and Dentistry: An Oral History - BBC Four.

Dr Irwin Smigel - The Times.

Austin Powers bites back: a cross sectional comparison of US and English national oral health surveys - British Medical Journal.

Published on Thursday, 22nd October 2026.

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