Japanese and Oral Health/Hygiene

I'm not sure whether this is true or not. I've heard and read from a few different sources that Japanese have a national problem with oral hygiene and overall dental health. Is this true or not? Considering how hygienic I have read that the Japanese are it seems odd that they would neglect this.

WELL STAYING SORTA ON TOPIC: From a majority of what I've seen, and this is just random pictures of Japanese girls I find that happen to be smiling so there's no real proof here, their teeth look kinda messed up. So I would say their oral hygiene isn't quite up to par...but honestly why does this even matter? Who gives a damn? What is to be seriously discussed here?

Google tells me that Fluoride in water and toothpaste was only made legal about a decade ago, that there has been media misinformation where it has even been given, and that there is something of a culture of resigning oneself to pain. The high percentage of elderly would also skew figures, and as you may have noticed, the 'pointy-toothed' anime characters are strangely common representations of dodgy teeth, which doesn't seem an altogether negative oral problem in context. There has been an 'oral hygiene week' every year for a while now, so there is clearly some initiative.

Ultimately, though, I'm not sure why you'd care. :|

Yes, I could go to Japan and see for myself but for the time being that isn't a financial possibility for me. Therefore, I have to rely on the knowledge of those who have been there and who have experienced it. Knowledge is not procured simply by wishing you had it. If it was then everyone on this planet would be a genius. You need to start processing what goes through your head before you type. In one post you have managed to both inform and insult me. Define "people like you" please. There are NO people EXACTLY like me. My life, experiences, values, beliefs, morals, personality, etc etc are not so easily copied. I am unique and I don't appreciate you implying otherwise. You don't know me so don't go lumping me together with other people.

I'll give you a serious reply since you seem to be sincerly interested.

Over here, there is a slight dental problem for a few reasons. First, from talking to japanese friends, many people don't go to the dentist since Japanese dentist are known for bad beside manner. Many japanese hate how rough and unpleasant the dentist is and so they avoid it.

Second is that it is common for people to simply ignore cavities. If you have even a small cavity in America, the dentist will fill it. Here, the home rememdy is to stay away from sweets and hard food until the pain goes away. Also, wisdom teeth are usually not removed. This causes over crowding in the mouth. I have many Japanese friends who did not have their wisdom teeth removed. The younger generation seems to take a different approach to this - probably after seeing what happened to the older generation

Last, the use of sodium rich sauces in the majority of foods - like soy or teriyaki sauce - stains teeth.

There are plenty of Japanese with great smiles, but I suppose they get a bad rap because the older generation had all of the mentioned issues and still have their poor oral health to show for it..

I didn't know that about the bedside manner of Japanese dentists. Off topic, is it the same with doctors and nurses? I know that the dentist is unpleasant but I've never met anyone that actually "liked" going to the dentist in the first place. Regardless of who the dentist is or what bedside manner he had. It was just something you sucked up and did.

It seems the bulk of the problem is just a lack of correct knowledge. Japanese don't seem to be educated on proper oral hygiene and health. From what you said it sounds like they don't brush or floss much either. Here, we are brought up being told to brush our teeth and floss and we also visit the dentist regularly..... well, as often as we have to. I was always told that my teeth would fall out and I would have to have dentures put in if I didn't take care of my teeth. Introducing correct knowledge on dental care/prevention into the society would probably correct most of the problems. Maybe even scare them with gingivitis or dentures.

It sounds like the younger generation is on the right track and with some time the problem won't even be a problem anymore.

On thing i can say is most kids and adults under 35-40 have normal teeth from what i seen, never ask people if they go to the tooth man often. Even though i brush my teeth twice a day and floss after meals they look yellowish even thought the dentist say i have strong healthy teeth so unless they have rotten or missing(which i didn't see offen with the japs) their pretty normal like a lot of american has in north americans.

Mod Note: I would urge all members to remain on topic and refrain from verbally attacking one another.

Getting back on topic, I have no idea about the situation in Japan. However, from my observations of Japanese office workers stationed locally, they tend to brush their teeth after every meal, even at the public restrooms. As such, I don't think their oral health or hygiene would be as bad as one would expect.

Yeah, it is an unfair stereotype that existed in western culture. Like animefreak said, people at or under middleage have just as nice teeth as anyone else. It is the fact that the older generation did not have an emphasis on oral health that they suffer from a lack of dental cosmetics.

Also, don't forget that Japanese live for a very long time relative to western countries and that there is a larger ratio of old to young than in western cultures. Older people of all nations are going to have worst teeth just do to aging, and they are going to stand out even more when there aren't as many young smiles as there are young to old smiles in western countries.

More old people = more bad teeth.
Japan has a lot of old people.

That's a good point.

Mod Note: It appears that my warning was ignored.

As such, all irrelevant and offensive posts have been edited and/or deleted.

Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Not sure if contributing to conversation. But.. something I learned awhile ago was that crooked teeth is widely considered to be cute in Japanese culture. That's why a lot of them have crooked teeth. Though like many things, there are Japanese people who have perfect teeth. It's like a trend I guess?

When I was recently over there, I personally didn't notice anything I would call a 'problem' with their visible oral health. Granted, that was not usually a topic I explored, so that's simply my observation.

All depends on what you compare to.

As for avoiding the dentist due to their lack of delicate handling, that I can see. Even if it's on the same level of care I've dealt with in the US(which I hear complaints about as well), I could see it being a bigger deal in Japan.


So long as they show up good ol' Britain, I think they'll be alright.

Silly thread
i come from england where we have stereotypically bad teeth (i don't know why), but we don't.
bad cleanliness of any part of the body is down to each person, not the country (unless it's a 3rd world country where it's difficult).

This^

My exgf was 34 years old Japanese. And she never had any issues with her teeth. Also brushing everyday twice.