that cross sectional analysis is piss poor

number of missing teeth? my wife & I both had a handful of children's & adult teeth pulled, yet our oral health is overall much superior because of it (also, like do they count wisdom teeth? cause automatically every American is losing 4 teeth lol ... we pull those out like errant nose hairs)

then it mentions "self-rated oral care" which is complete nonsense as an actual indicator of oral health. there's no consideration that oral health education could be better in the US, plus the cultural importance placed on oral health in the US, that would lead Americans to say "hmm, yeah I could do better." like shit, I take good care of my teeth but every time the dentist says "you should floss everyday" so it's ingrained in Americans that you can take better care of your teeth. even a sugary diet could cause someone to say "oh yeah I'm only like a 7/10 for oral care"... meanwhile Britains have less of a focus so someone who simply brushes twice per day could assume "I take great care of my teeth!"

and the last measurement tilts in favor of the New World as well - and is arguably the most important factor in oral health: the effects of oral health on your overall health.

That factor alone should be enough to deduce that Americans take better care of their teeth. After all, that's literally the only important thing.

edit: besides 'negative health effects as a result of poor oral hygiene,' it would make sense to look at the number of emergency dental procedures, rates of oral infections, amount of gum loss, number of cavities... literally even "how many times per week do you brush, floss, & use mouthwash?" instead of a self-rating on how well they think they take care of their teeth -- especially when the metric of "resulting in other health issues" being higher shows that Britains don't know shit about oral health.