wish i can afford braces...my teeth are badly crooked >>

I've heard Chinese are worse and the British cause could be from sweets;)

The british were infamous for bad teeth because in the past dentistry wasn't as widely available and horribly expensive. Nothing to do with sweets, although perhaps more to do with alcohol. Toothpaste and water also didn't have fluoride so it wasn't uncommon amongst the working classes even in the 1960's to have all your teeth pulled before you were thirty and to use dentures, simply because it was easier and cheaper than endless toothaches and trips to the doctor. My Great-grandmother even had 6 teeth pulled without anesthetic at a 'dentists' that operated out of a hut on the beach at Swansea.

Fortunately, the horrors of socialised medicine mean that almost everyone has access to free braces (under 18's only) and dental care (anyone), and whilst perhaps Britain isn't as fussed about the perfect smile as America, it's vastly better than reputation would have you believe. Cosmetic dentistry is still basically on a needs-must basis. If you need it to have a 'normal' mouth, you'll get it on the NHS, but if you just want say, tooth whitening, you pay for it.

I think with Japan, the most jarring thing to westerners is the amount of ~young~ people with crooked teeth. It's just a bit surprising. But then again, as someone else said, Japan has different beauty standards, and more to the point, they don't have the same kind of all-consuming media messages as America. BBC dramas flop or have to be remade if they're sent to America because the casts "Aren't pretty enough". In Japan and (decreasingly) the U.K, people get popular and then maybe improve their teeth. In America, people improve their teeth and then maybe get popular.

lol my teeth are a freakin mess. I never got braces when I needed them, my sister did, because only the girls need to be pretty, I guess.

I've always wondered about the teeth. Especially when I'd see some pretty girl walking around in Tokyo with a handbag which probably cost around $5,000. I mean, what's the use in walking around with an expensive handbag (which is meant to attract attention) when you look like you've been smacked in the mouth with a baseball bat?

My Japanese friends always bring up the cost of braces when I ask them about their teeth. They apparently cost around $10,000.

haha.. nice words.. I second you on that..

Having only worn braces for about 2 years (in the 1960s when they were very costly and uncomfortable) I do notice people's teeth. But i don't dwell on it.

A dear friend in Japan is very attractive, but when I first saw him smile the term "snagglepuss" came to mind instantly. But it wasn't long before I hardly noticed his crooked teeth - its just part of him and now his smile seems kinda cute and unique to me.

Unfortunately, he is now in the U.S. doing job interviews and it may hurt his chances when he gets face to face with someone. Hopefully they will look past this, but we all know how decisions can hinge on irrelevant factors.

Depends what he does for a living. Is he a teeth model?

Unfortunately he is in a field where he is greeting the public on a regular basis and his general appearance is a factor. If he were one of us doomed to only contacting people from cubicles with phones and computers it wouldn't be an issue.

But when you are clearly representing a company to the general public, at least in the U.S., everything about your appearance is open to the recruiter or hiring manager's criteria.

Well I can pull off smiling without showing teeth without much problem.