Quote Originally Posted by Maciamo View Post
I also noticed that many young people still have very apparent metalic teeth fillings in Japan. Here it is over a decade (maybe over 15 years) that fillings are white and invisible. My wife had her fillings changed in Belgium because she couldn't find a dentist that did white fillings in Japan, after I told her about it when we were living in Japan. I noticed that Japan was very late (usually over 10 years) in matters of medicine compared to Belgium or France. My wife has a few Japanese friends who have given birth in Belgium or France, and they said that hospitals and gynaecologists were so much better here than in Japan. Two of them had already given birth in Japan and could compare knowingly.

White fillings are/have been available in Japan for several years...how long I am unsure, but they do have them.

As for dental hygiene. It seems as though there has been a swing in the last 10 years to where there is more trust in dentists and more teaching going on as to the importance of good dental hygiene.

Many children still have terrible teeth, but it is getting better. Braces are extremely expensive, and I think that Japan should find a way to make it less so. My oldest son will be getting braces soon, and I am dreading the costs involved.

Many mothers do not brush their babies teeth. This combined with breastfeeding, contributes to rotted teeth in babies. Once the children grow, they have not been taught any good habits, and tend to not brush themselves. I have see changes to this though. There are three dentist offices withing 6 blocks of my house. Many children go there right after school now for their appointments. Two of the dentists have installed monitors on the chairs so that the kids can watch TV/DVD's while being seen. They can also use the monitor to watch what the dentist is doing inside their mouth. It has made the dentist quite fun and entertaining, and the children actually enjoy the visits. Maybe more of them will continue to go now.