You can find dentists all over the place in pop culture. Some references and portrayals are positive, but most are scary or hilarious. In any case, I love how dentists are portrayed and love to collect videos like these. Here are a few of my really good ones:
Little Shop of Horrors
This one’s a classic. In an otherwise very forgettable musical, this scene stands out as one of the funniest dental pop culture examples of all time. Steve Martin plays a sadistic dentist who loves to hurt and terrify people. Bill Murray, his new patient, craves pain and suffering more than anything else.
Friends
Have you ever been around someone with teeth so white it’s hard to look away? In this episode of friends, Ross whitens his teeth for way longer than the recommended time and then spends the rest of the episode trying to hide them from his date.
The Simpsons
With 26 seasons (and counting) of The Simpsons, Matt Groening has probably cracked more jokes about dentists and teeth than anyone else on television. In this episode, Lisa’s dentist tells her she needs braces.
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Marathon Man
Dustin Hoffman plays an innocent guy who gets caught up with a diamond smuggling network. Laurence Olvier is a Nazi dentist who tortured victims in concentration camps during WWII, but now masterminds the smuggling operation. When Olivier’s character captures Hoffman’s and suspects him of stealing his diamonds, two of the finest actors ever clash in a horrifying dental scene. This movie has probably kept thousands of people away from their dental appointments. Please don’t take it too seriously! A visit to Canyon Gate Dental in Orem is nothing like visiting Laurence Olivier’s chair.
The Simpsons
Like I said above, The Simpsons is rich with dental comedy. In this episode, Ralph Wiggum tells his dentist that he brushes regularly. We dentists have an extra sense that tells us when people are lying on this subject, and this cartoon dentist calls Ralph on his bluff. To scare him into taking better care of his teeth, he shows him a book of British smiles.
-Nicolas K. Young, DMD
