Observation no. 13
While the British may care about a lot of things: health and safety, Will and Kate and the national obsession with the gender of their unborn child, perpetual discussion about the perpetually crap weather…there’s something I’ve noticed that doesn’t seem to resonate too strongly. Dental hygiene. While I certainly don’t boast a set of soap star sparkly whites myself and it’s wrong to judge (ok to observe), there appears to be an inordinate number of people I’ve encountered with some seriously bad teeth. Like seriously. Like avert-your-eyes-and-focus-on-a-random-spot on-the-forehead bad. My point here is that for a developed country that’s sorted with so many things, you’d think that a visit to the dentist would be a part of an annual checklist mandated by the hygiene police. Come to think of it, where are the hygiene police? There’s enforcement for pretty much everything else. You can’t drive without insurance, you can’t buy a knife without ID, you can’t park anywhere for free, you can’t let your dog crap in a park or allow your kid to go to school with peanuts, but you can walk around with a mouth full of a mangled mess of teeth? Come to think of it…in my local Tesco supermarket I’ve noticed a repeated promotion on 2-for-one deals on toothbrushes. Clearly there is just too much supply and too little demand.
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| Robert Dyas health and safety warning on kitchen knives. |
