“Don’t poor blacks and poor Hispanics suffer from bad teeth as well?”
I can’t really answer that question, but it is certainly true that persons of Anglo descent have very poor teeth.
Myself included. And my dentist once told me that a very larger percentage of his patients were of Irish descent. I forget exactly what he said, but it the majority I believe.
Dr. Weston Price was a dentist who studied people groups all over the world. He found a connection between diet and the structure of the skull and how it affects the alignment of teeth. Maybe most people’s Irish ancestors came to the US after suffering malnourishment during the potato famine? Or, even living on just potatoes for a few generations before that affected bone and teeth structure? If his theory is true, then my diet must have been horrible for most of my life (and it was typical processed foods as a child) because I have straight teeth, but my girls do not. Two are having orthodontic work done and the two year old already looks like she will need it. Her crooked smile is cute now, but she will hate it when she gets older.