"Poor Teeth" by Sarah Smarsh is still the best long essay I've read about how dental health impacts AND is impacted by income in U.S.
Her writing is beautiful and heartbreaking.
"If you have a mouthful of teeth shaped by a childhood in poverty, don’t go knocking on the door of American privilege."
One of the biggest class signifiers in US life is your teeth. Dental care in general (and cosmetic dentistry in particular) is shockingly expensive here. But if you have flawed teeth, you *will* be silently judged for that.
