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

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

Teeth whitening is the latest American dentistry to come to these shores even though some teeth whitening products are only available by ordering them online. The rise in the popularity of teeth whitening in the UK could be because of the amount of Brit celebrities that have had their teeth whitened. Simon Cowell recently insisted that all the X Factor finalists underwent some teeth whitening at a Harley Street cosmetic dental surgery. As well as this everyone from Kate Blanchett to Richard Hammond have invested in a spot of teeth whitening, so it is not surprising to see an increase among the public.