One of my little sisters is a dentist and I've never smoked meth amphetamines so perhaps I'm a bit biased on this count, but nonetheless:
In a country in denial about class divisions, a mangled mouth is the clearest indication of second-class citizenship. Missing or rotting teeth are like a scarlet T, declaring their owner to be trash. Sered and Fernandopulle describe the way that a group of well-meaning Idaho women who volunteered at clinics and early childhood development programs judged "those people" who weren't able to get dental care for themselves or for their children. "These middle-class women," they wrote, "identified bad teeth as a sign of poor parenting, low educational achievement, and slow or faulty intellectual development." When Stu Price, Ed Helms' character in The Hangover, wakes up in Las Vegas and discovers he is missing a front tooth, his horrified response is to declare, "I look like a nerd hillbilly." Every lazy screenwriter knows how to label a character as a menacing half-wit: give him gnarly teeth and a sleeveless T-shirt.I didn't get braces when I was younger because I was afraid of looking like a nerd (which was stupid because I did anyway) so I got laminates to fill in my gaps when my sister was going through dental school later in life. In my opinion, having nice teeth is more important for success in American society than either one's race or income.
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8 comments:
All well and good, if you don't have a dental phopia. Mine is severe - to the point that I have to be put to sleep just to have the little buggers cleaned. My first dentist was like less than gentle and maybe he set the stage. He was my uncle.
Well, in most cases the quality of dental work and teeth is dependent on socioeconomic class. Dental insurance is expensive and doesn't cover most cosmetic procedures, and the majority of dental work is considered 'cosmetic' by insurance providers. Crowns, braces, dental implants, veneers and the like are usually not covered. Which means people who afford them have them. People who don't, don't.
My point is that I don't want anything in my mouth - no matter what it does or doesn't cost as long as I'm not asleep.
Now this is where I might normally make a lewd comment Leslie but my respect for my elders precludes me from doing so.
You dawg you! ; )We elders are like good wine. We get better with age and we sure as hell ain't dead. Should have thought of that before excluding "everything."
Every day - multiple times per day - I stare at these pictures of these Zambian kids with better (and especially whiter) teeth than either myself or my wife while I fill up my cup at the water fountain.
Just makes me theorize that fluoride is not the end all be all of existence, one L. But what do I know...
nice post and informative..cosmetic dentistry is the best way that people can do to attain gorgeous smile..
Cosmetic Dentistry Las Vegas
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