Missing teeth in Murfreesboro, TN (Franklin: salons, unemployment, incomes)

[Chloe Cerutti]

My husband & I recently moved to Murfreesboro from Seattle & are still transitioning to the differences between the two coasts, some of which are rather surprising.

One in particular which concerns us is the number of relatively young people missing critical teeth, often in front. Many of these individuals are working with the public; i.e. waitresses, store clerks, etc., and most appear oblivious to these lackings. I recently saw an attractive young woman talking on her cell phone as she entered a Fitness Club, presumably she was a member or an employee. She was talking & laughing all the while sporting a missing front tooth. It was not a pretty sight.

What could possibly be the cause of so much dental loss? Is there something in or missing from the water that we should be concerned about? Is it the diet, or is this merely a local anomaly resulting from poor dental hygiene - in which event, why? Toothbrushes & toothpaste are relatively inexpensive at the "Dollar Stores" and it doesn't appear that the cost of extraction and dentures are prohibitively expensive, even though preventative dental care seems pretty high for the lower incomes in the area.

People seem concerned about their appearance and their teeth in other respects: lots of dentists advertising whitening and veneers, hair & tanning salons, as well as health clubs, so what gives? This can't simply be a matter of priorities or economics since the area appears reasonably prosperous with relatively low unemployment: new shopping centers and restaurants sprouting up all over, people eating out & driving reasonably new automobiles.

In my 65 years, I've been to and lived in a number of other cities and states around the country and have never encountered so much toothlessness in one location. We would really like to understand the underlying cause in hopes that we can avoid a similar fate.

Thanks for any explanations you can provide.

[akm4]

Wow! That's remarkable. I was in Murfreesboro yesterday. Admittedly, I'm not there often, but I have never noticed this problem. I don't see it in Franklin or Nashville. Certainly not with any regularity!

That's bizarre.....and sad.

[Kim918]

Originally Posted by akm4

Wow! That's remarkable. I was in Murfreesboro yesterday. Admittedly, I'm not there often, but I have never noticed this problem. I don't see it in Franklin or Nashville. Certainly not with any regularity!

That's bizarre.....and sad.

I live in M'boro and haven't noticed it either.

[Mike in TN]

This has to be a troll.

[snowflake73]

i'm cracking up reading your post right now.

[Beretta]

Many theories on this one. One is because we have more horses here in TN, and more kicks in the mouth, we lose teeth. Another is that we get into a lot of fights. For instance, when someone makes fun of our daddy for not having teeth we get into a fight and end up losing our own teeth. Another is that we had to use our denture adhesive to fix the washing machine so we had to leave our choppers at home. Stuff like that.

Chloe, sorry to poke fun, but surely you were kidding? Where all have you been in M'boro? My son is at MTSU there and I never noticed toothless people when I visited.

[Kim918]

Originally Posted by SmokyMtnGal

Many theories on this one. One is because we have more horses here in TN, and more kicks in the mouth, we lose teeth. Another is that we get into a lot of fights. For instance, when someone makes fun of our daddy for not having teeth we get into a fight and end up losing our own teeth. Another is that we had to use our denture adhesive to fix the washing machine so we had to leave our choppers at home. Stuff like that.

Chloe, sorry to poke fun, but surely you were kidding? Where all have you been in M'boro? My son is at MTSU there and I never noticed toothless people when I visited.

Great Post! Too funny!

[Diane Giam]

Originally Posted by SmokyMtnGal

Many theories on this one. One is because we have more horses here in TN, and more kicks in the mouth, we lose teeth. Another is that we get into a lot of fights. For instance, when someone makes fun of our daddy for not having teeth we get into a fight and end up losing our own teeth. Another is that we had to use our denture adhesive to fix the washing machine so we had to leave our choppers at home. Stuff like that.

Chloe, sorry to poke fun, but surely you were kidding? Where all have you been in M'boro? My son is at MTSU there and I never noticed toothless people when I visited.

Wonderful Post! My daughter is at MTSU and I go to Murfreesboro often, I've never seen what the op describes.
It sounds like someone I know from another state asking if I now walk around toothless and barefoot.

Diane G

[ben52284]

This is quite the timely post! Apparently, Nashville has the best teeth.

Study: Nashville has the healthiest teeth | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean

[Mike in TN]

BS "study"