[JuettnerDistrib]

One thing this article misses are medical procedures that improve the quality of life, but have no bearing on life expectancy.

For example, if you knock out your front row of teeth, not only do you look weird to people (a pirate), but also you can no longer easily bite into a hamburger, and your speech is impacted. You will have trouble pronouncing words that contain 'v', 'th', or 'f'.

Getting implants is not going to increase your life expectancy, unless you live in a society devoid of knives (our external teeth). But the increase in quality of life is often worth it.

That being said, in the US dentists seem to take way too many X-rays. They take X-rays before the doctor even sees you. Then the doctor tells you what you could have told them.

Source: personal experience.