A small point about large teeth; Hermione

[Amy Z]

David wrote:

> > Actually, in the light of our discussion, it's an interesting 
> social comment that Hermione's parents *refuse* to let her treat 
her 
> goofy teeth, isn't it?  And another one that, given the 
opportunity, 
> she goes against their wishes.

Ali wrote:
 
> I thought Hermione said that they wanted her to continue with her 
> brace as they hadn't wanted magical intervention? 

Yes--of course, that's still rebellious on Hermione's part.  I'm 
with Hermione on this one.  Why endure the pain of orthodonture when 
Madam Pomfrey can do it painlessly in a few minutes?  

> I think what I have most disliked about this concept of British 
> teeth, is the sterotyping. I think that in terms of crooked teeth, 
> we were indeed behind the States. Most people of my generation now 
> have straight teeth, so I'm reluctant to agree that it's still the 
> case. 

I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of if they don't, as IMO 
Americans waste an incredible amount of money on purely cosmetic 
dentistry.  I was blessed with straight teeth, except for 
delightfully snaggly lower (hence mostly invisible) ones, so I 
freely admit I too might well have gotten braces if my teeth had 
been out of the social norm.  But my point is that that norm is so 
narrowly defined that one would think it had been generated by the 
American Orthodontists' Association.  It's as absurd as if we 
believed that all women under 5'6" must weigh no more than 125 
pounds or else they're "overweight" . . . oh, wait, we DO believe 
that, don't we?  <g>

BTW, the straight-teeth stereotype is not a blanket statement one 
can make in the US.  There are significant class and race 
differences.  Poor people often have not only crooked but decayed, 
missing, broken, etc. teeth, for obvious reasons:  dentistry is 
expensive and only a small percentage of Americans have dental 
insurance.  As for the frequent appearance of a gap between African-
Americans' front top teeth, I don't know if it actually is more 
frequent (genetics) or if white people, being on the whole 
wealthier, are more likely to have it magicked away by Muggle 
orthodontists.  (Or, for that matter, if I'm reading anecdotal 
evidence and stereotype as fact.  I've never actually seen 
*statistics* comparing the front-tooth-gaps of various races.)

Amy Z