[Columbine]

The british were infamous for bad teeth because in the past dentistry wasn't as widely available and horribly expensive. Nothing to do with sweets, although perhaps more to do with alcohol. Toothpaste and water also didn't have fluoride so it wasn't uncommon amongst the working classes even in the 1960's to have all your teeth pulled before you were thirty and to use dentures, simply because it was easier and cheaper than endless toothaches and trips to the doctor. My Great-grandmother even had 6 teeth pulled without anesthetic at a 'dentists' that operated out of a hut on the beach at Swansea.

Fortunately, the horrors of socialised medicine mean that almost everyone has access to free braces (under 18's only) and dental care (anyone), and whilst perhaps Britain isn't as fussed about the perfect smile as America, it's vastly better than reputation would have you believe. Cosmetic dentistry is still basically on a needs-must basis. If you need it to have a 'normal' mouth, you'll get it on the NHS, but if you just want say, tooth whitening, you pay for it.

I think with Japan, the most jarring thing to westerners is the amount of ~young~ people with crooked teeth. It's just a bit surprising. But then again, as someone else said, Japan has different beauty standards, and more to the point, they don't have the same kind of all-consuming media messages as America. BBC dramas flop or have to be remade if they're sent to America because the casts "Aren't pretty enough". In Japan and (decreasingly) the U.K, people get popular and then maybe improve their teeth. In America, people improve their teeth and then maybe get popular.