AUTHOR: Knitti-me TITLE: Adventures in Dentistry DATE: 10:29:00 AM ----- BODY:
Over the last several weeks I have been undergoing dental treatments that will culminate in wisdom teeth extraction at the end of month. Sitting in the chair yesterday, my mouth propped open with various torturous dental instruments, muzak playing in the background, my mind wandered to movies with dental themes. Hermey the misfit elf from Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer immediately came to mind. Here was an elf who didn’t like to make toys, but had aspirations to become a dentist. Hermey saves the day by pulling an abscessed tooth from the Abominable Snow Monster, thus taming the savage beast.

Another character that came to mind was the delightfully sadistic biker-dentist, Orin Scrivello, D.D.S, played by Steve Martin, from The Little Shop of Horrors film. This leather-clad dentist thrived on inflicting pain on his helpless patients. Then of course there’s Dudley Moore’s character, George Webber, in the movie “10.” Webber is suffering from a case of mid-life angst and becomes obsessed with his dentist’s daughter who symbolizes the perfect woman, a “10.” At one point in the movie, Webber visits his dentist in order to gather information on his daughter. Once home, Webber thoroughly drugged and numbed, tries to carry on a telephone conversation in a hilariously funny scene. After receiving 8 shots of Novocain yesterday, I could totally relate to Webber’s plight.

In a more sinister dental-related movie, Dustin Hoffman plays a marathon-running university graduate that gets caught up in an espionage plot due to the knifing death of his brother in Marathon Man. Excruciating scenes of dental torture at the hands of former SS dentist and Nazi fugitive, Szell, “the White Angel” of Auschwitz, is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Do you have any favorite dental-related movies to add to my list? ~~~ In knitting news, I am still plodding along on the throw for my bedroom. I've seamed the sides of my Ribby Cardi, but still need to attach the sleeves. Still trying to find the perfect pattern for my new Katsara yarn.
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