ON THE face of it, men's teeth would seem to be in better nick than women's. Prof Denis O'Mullane, Head of the University Dental School and Hospital in Cork, who conducted the most recent comprehensive survey of the health of the Irish nation, the Oral Health of Irish Adults survey, found men had more teeth than women in every age group.
For instance, nearly a quarter of men aged 35-44 had 18 or more sound and untreated teeth (a full complement is 32) compared to only 13 per cent of women. In the 45-54 age bracket, 13 per cent of men retained 18 or more sound and untreated teeth compared to only five per cent of women.
Various explanations have been offered for this seemingly good news for guys. It could be that women attend the dentist more often and so they deal with their tooth decay whereas men are more likely to skip the recommended six monthly dental checks and only make it to the dentist when throbbing toothache drives them past pain's bearing.
And because it is now believed that in many cases well meaning dentists in the past did harm as well as good - because drilling weakens teeth - staying out of the dentist's chair in the drill happy sixties may have been a good idea after all.
On a general note, dental decay can stop and heal up if you avoid sugar grazing between meals. Damaged enamel can re mineralise and repair itself. Restrict between meals snacks to fruit and you'll do your teeth, heart and wallet a big favour.
Men seem on the whole to be less concerned about the appearance of their teeth while women are more likely to attend a dentist for cosmetic reasons. Men tend to hold onto unsightly looking teeth, which women might have extracted.
Another reason why there are fewer toothless men than women is that incredible though it sounds to the contemporary ear - women used to have their teeth extracted as part of their marriage dowry. Strange but true. As recently as the 1940s many brides to be in Ireland and Britain marched up the aisle with brightly polished new dentures, presumably to save their men dental expenses over the rest of the bride's life.
However, men were found in the UCC survey to have higher levels of tartar or calculus (calcified plaque) than women. As dentists usually remove this during check ups, this is evidence that men don't go to the dentist often enough. (Do it yourself enthusiasts are earnestly advised never to attempt their own tartar removal.)
Dr Jane Renehan, Lecturer in Public Dental Health at the Dublin Dental School and Hospital, says men are less regular attenders for check ups, sometimes because their working hours clash with surgery opening times. So they find it more difficult getting to the dentist and have more untreated decay than women. When women notice decay, they tend to have it treated.
Dr Renehan says that boys and men are much more prone to trauma of their front teeth than women because they have more accidents, play more sport and generally tumble about. As many as 22 per cent of men in the 25-34 age group have suffered a chip or blow to their front teeth. Women in the same age group have only 11 per cent trauma. In the 16-24 age group, as many as 21 per cent of males had suffered trauma while only eight per cent of females had suffered a chip or a blow.
She strongly advises boys and men engaged in contact sports to get a prescription gum shield specially made for their teeth. While this costs in the region of £60, it could save a fortune in dental bills.
While standard pharmacy or sports shop gum shields can be better than no protection, they are very much a half way house and in some cases can cause problems if they are poorly fitting. Prevention, as in all aspects of dental health, is cheaper and better than cure.
If you have a tooth knocked out while playing sport, it can be put back in with little harm done. If you don't know this you can needlessly lose a perfectly good tooth. If your tooth is knocked out, don't just stand there feeling like a hero. Look for it, clean it and put it straight back in, as follows: when you find the tooth, hold it by the crown and not the root (which is more sensitive); if possible, wash it in lukewarm water or milk - do not use disinfectant as it will kill the tooth; now, pop it back into the cavity from which it came (making sure you get it the right way up and not back to front).
If you can't manage to put it back in, place the tooth in room temperature milk where it will live for up to four hours. If you don't have milk, keep it in your mouth - where it will go on living for two hours.
Now make a bee line to the nearest dentist.