Teeth are an unlikely place to start when judging a health system, but they can be one of the most revealing.

Oral health tells a surprisingly big story. Tooth decay, gum disease and tooth loss are some of the most common chronic conditions anywhere in the world, and they often reflect how seriously a health system takes prevention.

As a dentist and researcher, this is the part that always stays with me: oral disease is rarely about one bad tooth. It is usually about the system around that tooth. What is prevented early? What is picked up late? And who can get care without delay? That makes England and Denmark an interesting comparison. Both are wealthy European countries with strong welfare traditions, but their dental systems work in very different ways.

Health Gap / Sundhedskløften is a collaborative series from The Conversation UK and Denmark’s Videnskab.dk exploring what the two countries can learn from each other when it comes to health and wellbeing.

From cycling and alcohol to inequality, healthcare and everyday habits, the series looks beyond hospitals and medical treatment to explore how culture, politics and society shape the way people live – and how healthy they are.

Denmark has built a system that public health researchers regularly point to as a benchmark. Children receive free, municipally organised dental care, with regular check-ups, fluoride use and school-based oral health support built into the system from an early age.

Dental disease starts early, so preventing it in childhood can protect teeth into the teenage........

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