Someone did a great short story of a society where everyone got their fingernails removed for this reason (as an analogy to circumcision).

Apparently, in the UK many people used to have their teeth removed when marrying.

Not just UK , and not just when marrying. If you could afford it, removing all your teeth before 30 was a great idea, since a rotting tooth and the subsequent infection would most likely kill you. So it just increased your chances.