It's a stereotype, mostly meant in jest. Nothing personal ole chum.
It surely does cut both ways (certainly does based on some of the comments Ive seen about the UK on this site).
Where DO you get this dental care thing about Britain from though? Most Brits are utterly oblivious to it. Is there any kind of evidence at all (other than anecdotal) that Brits have bad teeth?
My English born and raised wife doesn't have bad teeth, but they're not great either. She blamed the NHS which she said simply didn't do a very good job of providing adequate dental care in the years past. Most of the Brits with bad teeth are probably of the older sort who grew up in the two decades after WWII when resources were limited. Remember Britain didn't go off rationing until some years after the war. And they elected a number of socialist governments which didn't help much.
It's a stereotype, mostly meant in jest. Nothing personal ole chum.
I noticed that when Louise Brown was on trial in Massachusetts for killing a child entrusted to her care, there was legal defense fund set up in England. Louise and her parents were lodging gratis in her American lawyer’s home, but lodging expenses showed up in the accounts.
Mysteriously, as the trial progressed, Louise’ parents teeth got noticably straighter and cleaner. I’m not saying...
Mike Myers' Austin Powers movies are probably when it reached critical mass.
Note: Myers is Canadian.