Wanted to head to dentist recently to do a n oral check, and my friend said something like “Be careful with dentists here, just look and Japanese people’s teeth”. Tbh I agreed with him at that point, because I never seen Japanese wearing braces here, even tho they got a whole “broken piano” in their mouth. Was really curious WHY everyone has oral problems here, maybe because they wear masks, so they don’t care, or it’s simply one more of their “Kawaii” things?
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Because cosmetic dentistry isn’t covered by health insurance and as such is prohibitively expensive.
It’s a matter of socially-conditioned aesthetics. People in Japan maybe are able to find different features acceptable or attractive rather than favour only people who look as if they’re wearing dentures.
Cosmetic dentistry is incredibly expensive so most countries really don’t care very much about the aesthetics of someone’s teeth. Very much an Americanised issue.
Japanese prefer to keep their own teeth instead of wholesale replacing them.
It’s never just one reason. Different aesthetics, expectations, costs, sense of self, group dynamics – all play a role.
“Broken Piano”💀😭
Have you seen the toothbrushes being sold here? Their heads are tiny which leads me to believe that Japanese have bad teeth because they don’t brush them thoroughly #tinfoilhaton
Until relatively recently oral hygiene just wasn’t a thing here, and education about it was abysmal. It was quite common to see small kids with mouths full of rotting black teeth because their parents neglected their care, reasoning that the milk teeth were going to fall out anyway. They didn’t realize that the milk teeth set the placement for the permanent adult teeth.
Furthermore having straight white teeth has never been seen as a marker of social status. Japan is definitely not unique in this respect.
Is it really an ‘oral problem’ to not have your teeth straightened out?
So, every race of every era of humanity were suffering this problem, until a few western countries started obsessing over it in recent times?
This is pseudo-science or science lacking strong evidence, but there’s a theory where cultures of straighter teeth tend to come from cultures where pulling, biting through stronger food, and shredding food while eating lends to more aligned teeth.
But I think, just for the most part, there’s not a huge push for straighter teeth as a culture. People just don’t care to an extent. Some crooked teeth is fine, just like many other cultures outside the US.
Certainly are people who get braces and they’re not super expensive, but are costly for such a ‘not really needed’ thing.
It’s just a cost issue. I wish that braces was covered by insurance until age 18 at least. Crooked teeth are much harder to brush leading to a lot of potential problems down the road.
Orthodontist Yuki Miyajima
“Japanese jaws are naturally smaller than Western jaws, but eating softer foods in childhood, such as school lunches, has also led to underdeveloped jaws”
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/23/national/science-health/orthodontics-japan/
Evolutionary biologists believe that modern humans have crooked teeth because the food we eat is too soft.
>broken piano
As a kid who wore braces for 5 years in Canada – ouch.
>and my friend said something like “Be careful with dentists here, just look and Japanese people’s teeth”. Tbh I agreed with him at that point
You’re both kind of stupid because basic dentistry and orthodontics are two separate fields.
Moreover, this statement implies that tooth alignment is caused by poor dentistry. Do you think the dentists are knocking teeth around with hammers or something?
>because I never seen Japanese wearing braces here, even tho they got a whole “broken piano” in their mouth.
Plenty of Japanese wear braces or Invisalign.
Many can’t afford it, though, as cosmetics are not covered by insurance.
>Was really curious WHY everyone has oral problems here
Not everyone does.
>maybe because they wear masks
… What?
>or it’s simply one more of their “Kawaii” things
Many people with imperfect tooth alignment have complexes.
歯並びのいい is a very commonly sought after trait in the dating community, while 八重歯 are stigmatized.
Crooked teeth and crowding are due to the jaw being too small to accommodate all adult teeth.
Why are jaws too small? Differences in genetics, diet, eating habits, nutrition etc.
Soft foods require less chewing and grinding which leads to less developed jaw bones and muscles. It’s not a Japanese thing. Looking at all old skeletons will show you nice straight teeth in wider jaws. They’re ground all to shit but they’re straight.
Japanese people have bad teeth, you say? Should I direct you to certain parts of the US where pulling teeth is the norm because it’s cheaper than drilling cavities? Google some Mountain Dew Mouth, maybe?
I think the price is a big issue as it is usually considered cosmetic.
My friend was thinking about getting braces for their kid as an elementary school graduation present, but it’s so expensive they basically abandoned the idea.
Children’s braces are subsidized by the government, but adults are not covered by insurance unless there are functional problems.
Also, many people who wear braces use mouthpieces or wear appliances on the backs of their teeth to make them invisible, so I don’t think you would ever find out about it.
But if it’s for aesthetics, isn’t that the same lookism issue as cosmetic surgery?
According to my dentist, the Japanese have large teeth, but softer foods eaten by the Japanese have led to the bones of the mouth becoming smaller over time, which has made them more crowded.
Straight teeth never really came into fashion here until recently, but as a teacher of kids, I can tell you that a lot of kids nowadays are having orthodontics done, with palate widening braces and plastic retainer movement of their teeth more prevalent than wire braces.
Because crooked teeth are not seen the same way as in some of the other countries – sometimes the mildly crooked teeth can be even considered to be cute. So people prioritize other beauty-related efforts like losing weight or doing their hair over having their teeth fixed.
Smaller jaw bones tend to lead to crooked or overlapping teeth.
It also used to be seen as cute to have these overlapping teeth called yaeba.