Tooth Care in Japan

This should be interesting.

Of the multitude of stereotypes stated about Japanese women, one of the most common is that they have crooked/bad teeth.

its not a stereotype, its fact. Ive been living in japan since 2001. the japanese are proned to maloclusions (a fancy word for crooked teeth) because of their baby food textured diet, which reduces the size of the oral cavity after the loss of the baby teeth. hence when the permanent teeth emerge, they must do so in a smaller area. And what happens when 32 teeth must emerge in a shrunken oral area? thats right, maloclusions. making matters worse, dental care is in the dark ages in Japan, much like it was in the UK in the 80s. But im happy to report that since my arrival here in 01, things have gotten much better. even braces are becoming more acceptible. when i first moved here, during my scaling and polishing visits to the dentist four times a year, it was common for the dentists to tell me that I had only a small amount of plaque and should wait to get it scaled. in fact some dentists here even advise people against flossing, telling them that it creates spaces between their teeth. but things are getting better and i finally found a great dentist at Hyogo station. when i discovered he studied at yale, i thought to myself, “atarimae.”