Always the Same Map

This is a perfect description of my situation too. The only dental work that I can get covered is checkups and cleanings.

A while back I was told I needed a root canal but they (the clinic I go to) can't do those and they're not covered anyway. The other option was to just have the tooth pulled, which the clinic can do for a reasonable fee, but the dentist recommended that I not get it pulled for a bunch of reasons including long term health related reasons. I knew I did NOT want that, so I decided to put off doing anything and just deal with the pain in the hopes I'd be able to pay for the RC later or borrow the money or something.

Many months later I decided enough was enough, I had been in too much pain for too long, I'd just bite the bullet (ha) and pay for it even though I still couldn't afford it. Went back to the dentist and they said it was too late for a root canal, too much of the tooth had deteriorated. Now the option was to just have it pulled or to have replaced with an implant, which the dentist strongly suggested I do if I could. But doing that would be over a thousand dollars more than the root canal was going to cost! In other words, not possible for a poor person like me. So I just had it fucking pulled, exactly what I had been hoping to avoid.

Now I'm having similar pain on the opposite side of my mouth and I know it's going to be the same thing all over. Like you said, the loop begins again. I always had healthy teeth, never even had a single cavity until after I was 30. It's like I'm falling apart, not just my teeth but in all sorts of ways, but I can't afford to do anything about it.

That is probably a factor yeah, but also many (possibly most?) of the western european countries that have public healthcare do not include dental. And dental is expensive as fuck.

Turns out the toothbrush is better for you than private ownership of the means of brushing.

I just ate a whole bag of gummy bears. So, yeah.

Also processed food

I know but it's a seekrit and I can't tell you

dental insurance costs 8 euro’s a month

Why not make it free at that point? Or is your premium low because your teeth are good?

My dentist barely had to clean my teeth.

I didn't know this is a thing dentist do.

what high sugar diets do to someone. the best food for bacteria on our mouths that produce acid by eating that damages teeth

There's not that much info to work with. If it's in percentages of people receiving care for exapmle, then it may be easier to draw conclusions. But the map does not specify that.

I think it has something to do with local eating habits,

its about sugar consumption

It’s not carbs in general, it’s just the extremely poor quality of the carbs in our processed food.

Arr you saying it should be black?

Can't tell if this is a British teeth bad joke or actually a reference to how difficult it is to register at a dentist right now, and NHS dentists are close to extinct.

Site I got it from: https://smile-365.com/what-countries-have-the-lowest-prevalence-of-cavities/

Actual source: a dental hygienist’s presentation I saw

It’s the same because the teeth decayed in the first place which is indicative of a diet with too much sugar and processed food that is common in whatever country. Teeth aren’t supposed to decay, they haven’t for most of human history.