Aimee Lou Wood, a British actress known for her role in the popular series “Sex Education,” has recently spoken out against a joke made about her teeth on “Saturday Night Live.” The punch line implies that British people have “ugly” teeth, which European tourists would beg to differ. It shows what a caricature-obsessed, floss-obsessed nation we Americans have become about dental aesthetics, compromising the true state of UK dental health.
The punch line implied that Wood’s teeth were rotten—a charge she has categorically denied. British dental health is widely misunderstood, with some arguing that absence of fluoride leads to bad dental hygiene. Fluoride is a natural mineral, found widely across the UK. It’s true that many toothpaste brands and almost all public water supplies add it. This practice has dramatically changed the state of dental health for the populace.
Dentistry is provided through contracts, called general dental services (GDS), paid for by England’s National Health Service (NHS). These preventive-oriented services help make dental care accessible. Despite their clear advantages, one key flaw has led many to criticize them—they’re often too complex to be effective. Health professionals too believe GDS is “not fit for purpose,” creating an illusionary picture of the health of British teeth. British people weren’t born with “bad” teeth from a lack of fluoride. Yet this concept turns out to be pretty seriously misleading.
Wood’s response to the joke highlights our responsibility to do the work of interrupting these damaging stereotypes. She previously accused “Saturday Night Live” of perpetuating a fictional narrative about her crooked teeth. She made the case that this portrayal is rooted in American cultural stereotypes, not her real-life dental situation. The joke told us nothing real about the state of her teeth. Instead, it played into a harmful, entrenched stereotype that does a disservice to the true state of dental care in the UK.
Wood’s experience is just one instance of the overarching misunderstanding surrounding dental health. Most Americans have an automatic association in our brains between white teeth and health. Because of this belief, it distorts their lens to view anyone below that line as undeserving. This cultural obsession with aesthetics can distract from bigger conversations about real dental health and hygiene habits.