Martin Amis, a British author whose most famous book is probably Time's Arrow, suffered with really bad teeth from his teenage years onwards. Bad teeth is something that the Brits are famous for, so in mitigation of that unwanted reputation I'd say this:-
i) children growing up in the fifties generally had a calcium-deficient diet because of post-war rationing.
ii) the state-funded National Health Service didn't offer cosmetic dental treatment, so most people took that as verdict enough: it's not necessary.
In his autobiography, Experience Martin Amis laments, "I know all about the expert musicianship of toothaches, their brass, woodwind and percussion and, most predominantly, their strings, their strings (Bach's ¨Concierto for Cello¨struck me, when I recently heard it performed, as a faultless transcription of a toothache - the persistence, the irresistable persuasiveness)."
My verdict: I don't hear much toothache in this, but luckily I've never had many tooth probs. I suppose at a stretch, I can imagine some of the low notes in the slow movement (at about 6 mins in) reverberating unpleasantly through my gums, but I think there are plenty of more painful, excruciating pieces of music that MA could've chosen. But toothaches apart, for a piece of classical music this seems pretty good; not too cheerful and not too dramatic. Theoretically, I'd be happy to hear it again, but who am I kidding? I never listen to classical music.
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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953
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