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June 2009 | dentalproductsreport.com How Hollywood does dentistry A look at dentistry and how it is portrayed in pop culture.  Ghost Town, a romantic comedy featuring Ricky Gervais as a dentist and leading man, is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray and can be purchased at amazon.com. For more information on the movie itself, visit ghosttownmovie.com. Photo: DreamWorks SKG From Steve Martin as the Elvis-inspired sadistic dentist in 1986’s film version of the Broadway hit “Little Shop of Horrors” to the 2008 comedy starring Ricky Gervais as a ho-hum dentist who dies and is brought back to life only to see ghosts that need his help, actors throughout the decades have stepped up without hesitation to portray dentists on screen. Movies that feature dentists spread across a multitude of genres such as action, drama, horror and most often comedy. Some films, including “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World” (1963, Sid Caesar) and “Cactus Flower” (1969, Walter Matthau), even captured Acadamy Awards and critical acclaim.1 Although dentists may not always be portrayed in the best light, often symbols of pain, fear or incompetence, there has been a cultural shift with prevention and esthetics replacing drilling and extraction in the public’s perception of the dental practice. No longer seen exclusively as sadists, dentists are now more likely to be portrayed as solid citizens, romantic figures and realistic human beings.2 Dentists as romantic figures In addition to the comedian, dentists often act as metaphors for stability and normalcy. For example, the distressed girlfriend of Tom Hanks’s “Cast Away” character eventually marries an Endodontist as a means to regain security and the plot of 2007’s “Reign Over Me” starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle depends on a solid-citizen dentist to take in the unhinged Adam Sandler character. 3 Dentistry has even managed to gain popularity through a more modern form of media. The YouTube video sensation, “David after the dentist,” depicts a seven-year-old boy on his way home from a tooth extraction surgery. The laughing gas hasn’t worn off and his commentary and questions posed to his father offer up many laughs. Breaking the stereotype Also breaking the mold, is the 2002 film “The Secret Lives of Dentists.” Although the film didn’t receive much press or box office support, it does represent one of the first examples of a female dental professional. Hope Davis plays Dr. Dana Hurst who shares a dental practice with her husband. A story of infidelity and the disillusions of marriage, “The Secret Lives of Dentists” shies away from the recurring beautiful and blonde dental hygienist stereotype that is usually present in dental films and portrays the woman as a professional who is equal to her male counterpart. 1 Not all movies break the mold The 2005 film, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka is an example of a contemporary film that reinforces the dentist as a pain inducer. The tormented son of an obsessed, fiendish dentist, played by Christopher Lee, Willy Wonka attributes his bizarre idiosyncrasies to a horrifying childhood of braces, headgear and candy deprivation. Not to mention the 1996 horror film “The Dentist,” where Corbin Bernsen plays Dr. Alan Feinstone a dentist with a successful career and beautiful wife. After discovering that his wife has been having an affair, he goes insane and inflicts cruel dental torture on all of his patients. The film was so successful it resulted in the release of the 1998 sequel “The Dentist 2.”6 Portraying dentists as pain-inflicting maniacs may not be as common as their comedic counterparts, but these films could be partially to blame for instilling the fear of going to the dentist for many in the audience.1 Conclusion References
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