If you want to find the people with the best pearly whites, take a look at this list of the top 10 countries with the best and straightest teeth and oral health in the world.
Thanks to many many dentist visits as a child for my fair share of cavities, I can say I have some pretty healthy teeth. They’re also pretty straight thanks to expensive braces. However, my reality is not the reality for everyone in the world for a variety of reasons. Different diets and access to affordable dental care all play a big role in people’s dental health and hygiene. For example, some of the same countries on this list of 11 Countries with Free Health Care, will also be found on this list. For that matter they will likely overlap with those on this list of 11 Countries With the Best Healthcare In the World. If you haven’t figured it out already, access to affordable healthcare is important all across the world, no matter the size of a country. You can do all the brushing and flossing you want, but all teeth eventually have their problems.
Most countries with the worst oral hygiene and countries with the worst oral health, like Croatia, Guatemala, and Grenada, find themselves with those titles for reasons like unhealthy food habits, or lack of dental care (aka bad brushing habits), as well as the reasons mentioned above. On the other hand, a country like Japan with around 200,000 dental hygienists is regarded as one of the countries with the best dental hygiene in the world.
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The most acceptable measure of a large population’s oral health is the DMFT index. DMFT stands for decayed, missing, filled teeth. The DMFT index is widely used when assigning a numerical value to a population’s oral health and hygiene condition, and is determined by dentists examining a sample group from the population. Normally the sample group is of children ages 5 to 15, but sometimes adults are used as well. The dentists then count the number of decayed, missing or filled teeth for each individual on the day of the examination and then make an average for the entire population, therefore, they can assign a numeric value to a given large population group. The closer the value is to “0” the better. This process helps us to determine which country has the best teeth, for our list of top 10 countries with the best and straightest teeth and oral health in the world by taking into account tooth decay rates by country.
We basically looked at the DMFT index for all the countries in the world for the latest year, and then ranked the countries according to their DMFT score. As mentioned earlier, the lower the DMFT score, the better. The lower a country’s DMFT score, the higher it has been placed on the list. We used online resources, such as Country Oral Health Profiles, the WHO oral health information systems and the World Oral Health Report 2003 published by the WHO. We also considered the overall healthcare budget for countries that made it into the list as well, and for that we used World Bank‘s database. The DMFT study we looked at today to come up with this ranking was done on kids aged 12. We must also note that our list looks at dental health rather than what country has the straightest teeth.
Let’s get started with our list of top 10 countries with the best and straightest teeth and oral health in the world.
10. France
DMFT Score: 1.2
The number 10 spot is awarded to France because of a pretty good DMFT score of 1.2., meaning that out of all the children put through the DMFT survey, they had about 1.2 defective teeth on average. This is definitely a remarkable number, but France merely is number 10 on our list and things will only get better from here on. The closer the score is to zero, the better.
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9. United States
DMFT Score: 1.2
At number 9 on our list of top 10 countries with the best and straightest teeth and oral health in the world we have the United States. As you can see the DMFT score of the U.S. is identical to France, but we still ranked the United States a notch above France. The reason for this is because, according to World Bank, the healthcare budget of the United States is much higher than France. As we mentioned before, a DMFT score of 1.2 is definitely remarkable, but there other countries out there who are doing much better, just keep reading to know about those countries.
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8. Mexico
DMFT Score: 1.1
Mexico is doing really well when it comes to oral health and hygiene. Obviously the healthcare budget of Mexico is no where near the first two countries we talked about. Despite a constrained healthcare budget, the oral health and hygiene in Mexico is arguably better. Since we are not talking about the overall healthcare system in a country, but rather looking at a small segment of it, which is why Mexico ranks above much more economically strong countries like the U.S. and France.
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7. Canada
DMFT Score: 1.0
Canada scores slightly above Mexico in their respective DMFT indexas well as on our list of countries with the best and straightest teeth and oral health in the world. As you can see the DMFT index score for Canada is 1.0. A DMFT score of 1, means that of all the children put through the DMFT exam, on average had only one tooth that needed immediate medical attention or has already been removed due to some health issues. From now on, the list is going to be even more competitive, as we get more and more closer to our top picks.
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6. Switzerland
DMFT Score: 0.9
Switzerland is the first country on our list to have a DMFT score of less than one. To be specific, Switzerland has a DMFT score of 0.9. This means that on average all the subjects who went through a DMFT checkup had less than a single tooth with problems. Given that developed countries tend to suffer more from tooth decay due to higher sugar intake, it looks like people in Switzerland are not that attached to sweets, or they take really good care of their teeth.
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5. Sweden
DMFT Score: 0.8
We are half way through our list of top 10 countries with the best and straightest teeth and oral health in the world, and at number 5, we have Sweden with a DMFT score of 0.8, which is, as you can see 0.1 less than our previous entry Switzerland. To have a DMFT rating below one is rather ideal, and to push it even further takes a lot of dedication and self-restraint. Sweden seem to be doing it the right way.
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4. United Kingdom
DMFT Score: 0.8
At number 4 we again have another European country. Well, to be honest from here on end, we only have European countries. Anyway, the United Kingdom has a DMFT score of 0.8, which is identical to Sweden. So basically, we could swap these two countries in our list and everything else will remain the same. The data for the United Kingdom is from 2013, where the data for Sweden is from 2011. This is why we gave the United Kingdom the benefit of the doubt and ranked it higher than Sweden on our list.
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3. Finland
DMFT Score: 0.7
We are now venturing into the top 3 territories — the most prestigious position to be in, on the list. So basically we are talking about the third position on our list of top 10 countries with the best and straightest teeth and oral health in the world, and that honor goes to Finland with a DMFT score of 0.7. First of all, congratulations to Finland for making it so far up in the list, and we are quite optimistic that Finland is more than capable of moving even higher on the list in time.
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2. Germany
DMFT Score: 0.5
Germany takes the second place on our list with a DMFT score of just 0.5. That means, of all the subjects who underwent an oral checkup most had half a tooth with serious issues. Can you Imagine, just half a tooth? The most remarkable thing about this is that even with such a great DMFT score, Germany has only been ranked number 2 on our list. In other words, the country that topped our list today, has an even lower DMFT score than that.
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1. Denmark
DMFT Score: 0.4
At the very pinnacle of our list we have Denmark. We have data from 2014 for Denmark, and the data indicates Denmark has the best oral health of all the countries in the entire world. If you are looking for the country with the best teeth and oral hygiene, then we gladly announce that your search could end at Denmark. Realistically speaking, achieving a DMFT score even lower than 0.4 is next to impossible.
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Unfortunately, like everything awesome, our list of top 10 countries with the best and straightest teeth and oral health in the world must come to an end. We really hope you had fun going through it. If you have any suggestions or tips, leave them down in the comments section. We really appreciate any feedback from you — also help us spread the word by share our article through social media.
