The Tooth Scary

A lot of people have a phobia about dentists ..... its sometimes called odontophobia, or dentophobia by the way.

"So You Don't Like British Dentistry Eh Mr Hoffman?"

In fact such is the common extent of this fear, that many horror movies have featured mad dentists, culminating in the horror movie The Dentist.

But its even featured as a 'torture scene' in many mainstream movies such as Alfred Hitchcock's 1934 movie, 'The Man Who Knew Too Much', and later of course the 'Marathon Man' in 1976. So its with a little uneasiness that I can let you know that dental horrors are not restricted to movies .....

For instance, according to the Long Island Press, a man was arrested for practising dentistry out of his Long Island, N.Y., home without any formal medical or dental training. The man, Manuel Carranza,was arrested by police after they received a tip about the alleged unlicensed dental practice.

The home 'dental office' reportedly contained a lot of 'dental equipment' as well as a number of prescription medications and two stun guns ...... 'stun guns', the mind boggles! Apparently Mr Carranza also possessed a forged New York State identification card. Police charged him with unauthorized practice of dentistry, possession of a forged instrument, possession of a dangerous weapon and criminal diversion of a prescription.

Then of course, there was a report of a 'fake dentist' in Nampa, Idaho, USA, who was arrested for using power tools on his patients in his garage ..... if this doesn't leave you awake at nights, then nothing will. There are many such reports of fake dentists such as this one from El Paso or this from Miami.

Of course the question this raises is where the customer's are coming from? Well sadly its rather a condemnation of the richest nation on earth's refusal to embrace some sort of national health system, even though it would be cheaper than the current US selective system. Ironically of course the US comedians regularly knock the UK dental care e.g. My Wife and Kids, "This yellow, is as yellow as an Englishman's teeth", or The Simpson's, "British Book Of Smiles".

The Simpson's "British Book Of Smiles" - Typical US Disdain For UK Dental Care

 

 ..... but I have still got all my (white) teeth - bar two, which were taken out for health reasons i.e growing in wrong place - and so have most people I know who are under 60. So whilst I may not have the American smile, I haven't got gnarly broken stubs either.

The US system on the other hand leaves a lot of very desperate people who are outside of the 'dental plan system', and often in great pain and in need of some sort of relief ... while giving tooth bleaching for those lucky enough to be on a dental plan. So gleaming straight white teeth for some, and rotting gums for others .... much like many other countries.

The fact that so many are willing to face untrained dentists, armed with stun guns and power drills to get any sort of dental care, is the biggest condemnation of the US dental health system that anyone can ever be give.