No dental problems in New York. Lets pile on Kentucky, that redneck Southern state.
Yup, as a Kentuckian, I’m used to the piling on. I live 15 miles southeast of the city cited in the original article, Barbourville, and things are nowhere near as bad as reading this would lead one to believe.
Yes, there are still a few backroads and “hollers” where you can find the stereotypical hillbilly, but this breed is dying out fast. Broadband is finally penetrating even the most remote of locations, everyone has a cellphone glued to their ear just like anywhere else, and many make a decent to excellent living via any number of factories in the area and service and tourism related jobs.
People drive nice cars, even ...*gasp*...Porsches, Dodge Vipers and other pricey sports cars and SUVs. No one I know listens to Bluegrass—and I know a lot of people from here to Harlan to Hazard—despite every documentary about the area having a damn banjo picking along in the background as the score.
Yes, there are dentists, and plenty of them. I have a nice set of teeth myself, as do most I know. Sure, you can find the occasional person who doesn’t much care to see a dentist, but I’d say that is true most anywhere.
People love to mock those that live in this area as being ignorant, but the ignorance I see as regards their knowledge of my home in the hills is astounding. I guess it isn’t their fault, as the media and Hollywood continue to perpetrate the stereotype.