A ROTTEN JOKE ABOUT OUR TEETH

It's a decades-old joke in the US that Brits have terrible teeth, but according to the latest research, Americans have no cause to laugh; their dental health is generally no better than ours - and in some respects, it's worse.

Teams from Harvard University and University College London analysed thousands of dental records on both sides of the Atlantic to collect data on tooth extractions, people's perception of their dental health, and its impact on their lives. They found little difference between the two countries, except that the average American has more teeth missing than the average English person - 7.31 compared with 6.97.

They also found greater income-related oral health inequalities in the US.

"The oral health of Americans is not better than the English" said the researchers in the BMJ article entitled 'Austin Powers bites back".

(excerpt from 'This Week' magazine, issue 1055 9th January 2016)