Sunday 8 December 2013

Dentists in the media

In the videoclip below Dewey (Tim Conway) and Wallace (Chuck McCann) are small-town lawmen who are ordered by the governor to go undercover as prison inmates to find out where a gang of thieves have hidden their loot. While they're undercover, however, the governor dies, and because no one else knows about the ruse Dewey and Wallace are stranded in prison. How are dentists portrayed in the media? Pick up one example (movie, scene in a movie, journals, newspapers, TV, EXCEPT specialized journals and literature)and tell us about it.

49 comments:

  1. When I watched this video, it came to my mind the scene with Mr. Bean, when he is at the dentist. It is a really funny story, I laughed a lot, but in the same time the dentist is represented as a person, who does not his job. Mr. Bean is able to treat himself, he doesn't need any dentsist. Now, in this video we can watch a similar situation, but I think that in the real life the majority of the people have a healthy opinion about the dentists in spite of they are afraid of them.

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    1. I also watched this video and it's very cool and funny. When I was a kid, every time when I went to the dentist I was so scared. I think it was becasue of the doctor, who was an unkind person for me. But times change, and now I have to agree with Emilia, nowadays people have a more healthy and good opinion about dentists and their work. As I see it, in these days everybody can find the most appropiate dentist for their own personality.

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    2. Hi Balint, I understand the perspective has changed now that you are in the dentist-to-be's shoes.
      So, have you read, seen something in the mass media about how the dentists are portrayed? Can you refer to a specific article, movie, news?

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    3. So, I've watched the clip too, and the first thing that came to my mind was Mr. Bean of course, but then I saw that Emilia wrote about it already. I can only recall one other movie in which a dentist is represented, and that movie is Good Luck Chuck, but I cannot say it is similar to this one. The only funny thing regarding dentistry and toothache is the image of Tom (Tom and Jerry) or any other cartoon character's head all wrapped around with a scarf. It is the classic way of symbolising a toothache! P.s. Merry Christmas!

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    4. Poor guy, he is funny:). I think most people respect dentists/doctors but of course there are good and bad doctors. My opinion is that first of all the people's fear comes from ignorance: if the doctors would explain what they are doing and why, people wouldn't be so afraid. The other thing is, that unfortunately because of the lack of money people usually go to the dentist for controls only when they are in pain. Even then they often say: "please pull it out, I want to get over it" or because it is painful or because they don't have money for more treatment. This is how our grandparents grew up and still nowadays a lot of people as well. This is why they are afraid. In more developed countries like Sweden parents take their kids to the dentist every 5-6 month. They usually go to aesthetic dentists and they keep their teeth healthy so they won't have painful problems.

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    5. This video is really funny, it is similar to “Mr. Bean At The Dentist”. (This video was mentioned before, so I’m not telling about it again.) The dentists appear not only in funny videos, but also on journals, scientific programs and advertising too. They promote a lot of oral hygiene products like toothpastes, mouthwashes. More people buy these products because they trust in dentists, they have a positive opinion about them.

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    6. Hi Orsolya, can you exemplify with ONE journal or ad?

      This is what I actually meant by Media: not only movies. And also being specific, describing how the article or ad or show contributes in a positive or negative way to the image people make about this profession.

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    7. For example this (or similar) advertising http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXbiVMuOmkE for Sensodyne toothpaste is popular and appeared at many languages on TV. The dentist seems kind, but he is serious at the same time, and it is credible what he says. People can have a positive opinion about the dentists and the products too.
      In my opinion it is important to attract people’s attention to oral hygiene and regular consultation, but it is excessiveness the fact that dentists appear in advertising.

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  2. This video is a perfect example, for how dentists are portrayed in the media. For a normal man, dentistry means a source of pain, so they use in the most of the cases an unskilled dentist, which entertains the audience, but has a contribution in a negative way to the image of dentistry. Despite the fact that in the movies are portrayed badly, in ads or articles (made by professional dentists) the dentistry is highly trusted, and followed. (for example, you can take an Oral-B commercial)

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    1. I totally agree with you,Zoltan!Unfortunetly,everybody sees the dentist as a source of pain.It is enough to pronounce "dentist" and the person next to you will imediatly think about the annoying sound of our dental unit and "feel" the pain!:))

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  3. As my colleagues said this video is really funny,it brought Benny Hill to my mind,he played in a lot of episodes as dentist,giving to the public funny perspectives about dentists and dental phobia.In my view this kind of jokes makes people feel much better related to doctors,because the humour help them to forget a lot of preconceptions.In the media,dentists appear like rich people,who study,prevent and treat diseases and disorders of the oral cavity.As Orsolya said,more and more dentists promote a lot of products made to help us with our oral hygiene and this fact determinate people to understand that prevention is more important than the treatment.

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  4. Hello! I`m new here and this is my first post. I`ve watched this video and I laughed a lot, of course as my colleagues have already said this video reminds me of Mr. Bean at the dentist. My question is: Why can't we (dentists) be the good guys? Have you seen the movie: The Dentist and The Dentist II - both of which are based on dentist psycho killers? Or in the movie Horrible Bosses, in which Jennifer Aniston plays dentist who harasses her staff and patients? I realize going to the dentist isn't always fun for everyone, or even funny but whether in movies dentists are seen as horrible people how can everyone be happy to go to dentist. If dentist are not seen as bad guys they are seen by children like Dr. Rabbit which is a good thing because some of them get rid of fear and are very brave. This is a video with Dr. Rabbit a very instructive and explained video I say : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij_8iM4ybl0&list=PLEDAD6092B7CBD9F9

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  5. This was funny. Normal people should watch this video, and by normal i mean those people who are not dentists. In this video the doctor gets the pain insted of then.

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  6. As I watched this video the following joke came into my mind:
    A patient asked the dentist, if it wasn’t nasty to be all the day with the hands in someone's mouth.
    The dentist answered "I just think of it as having my hands in their wallet."

    This video is very funny, but in real life most people are usually scared by the dentist. Therefore the best way to get the kids go to the dentist would be to turn this "procedure" into a game.

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  7. :))) very funny video and I'd like to watch all the movie. Doctors this days are not very good seen in the media and I can say that its realy a campaign to denigrate them. People should not be affraid of dentists and specialy parents should teach their children that the dentist can be a real good freind as he help them to have a good hygine and beautiful healthy teeth.

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    1. Hi Mohammed, I am glad you liked the video. In your next posts try to answer the questions - this is essential for your comment to be approved: for example here you had to pick up an example of a piece of news, another movie, ad, whatever article that appeared and you have knowledge of and say how it portrays the dentists.
      Also, the purpose of this blog is to help you improve your writing: in your comment there are several spelling and grammar errors: these days, well seen, it is really, afraid, specially, he helps them, hygiene.

      Hope to hear from you again, ok?

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  8. This is a very funny video but now I am going to study so I'm not going to become like that man that is destroying all that expensive equioment. I remember that I saw a little video with Jamal the funny frog witch was showing how important is to brush your teeth and to have a proper alimentation but this one is much funnier.

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  9. I considered this video funny too and came into my mind a picture where a dentist is offering helium and the patient is asking „Will it kill the pain?’ and the answer is:”no, but when you scream is funny”...I think it’s a bad advertising but I liked it so much.
    In my opinion, it would be useless to introduce the doctors/dentists positive because the people not necessarily are afraid of the dentist, they are afraid more of the painful procedure.

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  10. I have seen as well the video in which Mr Bean went to the dentist and it's funny . The image of a dentist in media can be a negative one, for example watching a scary movie about dentists called : "Little shop of horrors" can make people not to go to the dentist when they need it .
    There are situations in which people trust dentists , for example the doctors can be seen in a positive aspect , in magazines, news about their success.

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  11. This is a very funny video and it reminded me as Gabriela said of Benny Hill...I enjoyed watching this short scene because the roles changed a little bit : this time, the patient was brave and the "dentist" was extremely nervous.
    Dentists are portrayed in the media as being rich and having perfect teeth, or they've been the main character in horror movies such as "The dentist". (1996 and 1998). Most of the people think that they are good at advertising.

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  12. I have really enjoyed this short movie, it was fun to watch. I remember that I have seen a movie in which the dentist was mocked because it wasn't a real doctor. In that scene a woman had presented her fiancé to her parents saying that he was a dentist. Parents were disappointed because he wasn't a "real doctor". I believe that this may be a common portray of the dentist.

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  13. there are two opposite views on dentists: a good one = the dentist will fix my teeth , I will feel a little pain but it will be over soon and I will have healthy teeth …and a negative one = I won’t go to the dentist , only when I can’t bare the pain anymore and the dentist is a horrible person... I may have exaggerated things a little bit. I believe that a person one of the two views below according to the experience that he had at the dentist at some point. In conclusion that person will choose what to believe: the good or the bad from what he sees to tv , radio , publicity.

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    1. Cristina, what does "bare" mean?

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    2. I think I shoud have written "bear" ... I meant that I could not endure anymore pain.

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  14. It's always nice to see dentists portrayed in mainstream media as something other than some scary boogiemen, that's not something that happens very often and to add to Cristina's comment, it's true that dentists tend to be ridiculed with the whole "not a real doctor" thing one exapmple of this would be the movie "The Hangover" an outrageous comedy in wich one of the characters was a dentist and a big part of his character was that he constantly refered to himself as a "Doctor"and the other characters kept correcting him and saying that he was just a dentist.

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    1. "which" besides the typo: exapmple, otherwise ok from the linguistic point of view, except that you wrote one paragraph long sentence.

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  15. There are many advertisements on TV with tooth-paste. Those who are talking about them are dentists. They are clean, smart and give us good advices. Of course they are “used” for advertising but in this case we are not afraid of them. They have a good image.

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  16. Natalia, we never say""good advices" but...............

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  17. It is advices without plural? advice

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    1. Yes, you are right: good advice (unlike in Romanian, where the noun has a plural form; the singular is "a piece of advice")

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  18. I do know of one movie that managed to do a great job of humorizing my future profession: The Hangover. You've never heard anyone laugh as hard as I did when I saw Ed Helms, playing the dentist, pull out his own tooth! While it was just ridiculous — the idea of me pulling out my own tooth — I found the irony and humor of the situation hilarious. How many of you have parents who wanted to put a string around your loose baby tooth, attach the string to a doorknob, and pull it out that way? See,it isn't as farfetched an idea as we thought!

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  19. It is a funny video,but I think dentists are not seen very well in our country because it is generally beleived that they are making a lot of money by not doing such a hard and stressful job.

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  20. I really enjoyed this short video. I think that nowadays dentists are very often presented in the tv or in different advertisements as true monsters for more reasons, however, there are some funny cases too. The first one could be, as it is shown in this video too, when the dentist do not know what to do with a specific case. This scene is tragic in reality, but it can be an amazing theme for film producers. In my opinion, the second type occurs in the horror films and it is a nightmare for children too, when the dentist is presented as a “monster, who causes only pain for his victims”.

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    1. Orsolya, you say "on TV".
      What is wrong with "the dentist do not know what to do..."

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  21. I know that generally talking ,dentists are vowed like a person who makes you feel a strong feeling of fear. But since I was a child I wasn't afraid of detists because my father told me that dentists are good people who want to help you and who makes you feel comfortable with your smile. And also I heared that dentists have a good financial live,a peaceful live with no stress and lots of money but I also heared that they have to be very focus when they work because they have difficult missions because they work in people mouth,which is a very sensible region of body. So I learned that dentists are very softly doctors.I have a good opinion about dentists and I will try to introduce this way of thinking in my people minds.

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    1. Julian:
      - please explain the meaning of "vow"in "dentists are vowed like.........."
      -who makes you feel comfortable
      - past tense of the verb "to hear" (repeated twice) is.............
      - dentists have a good financial live, a peaceful live
      - people mouth
      Are you sure the mouth is a sensible region???
      - softly doctors
      - my people minds

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  22. Whatever your age might be , at some point you will have watched a cartoon where a dentist performed sessions with horrific contraptions. Psychologically speaking, although these things may be viewed as funny children, they can have a negative mental impact scars that can only be hard to overcome. In my opinion, the younger generation should be made aware of the realistic implication of dental sessions. Technology wise, it is evolved to be virtually painless.

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    1. Zsuzsi, what do you mean in the following sentence:
      "these things may be viewed as funny children"?
      Also the lack of comas makes it hard to read your comment fluently: can you place a coma in the sentence starting: they can have a negative impact............
      What does "it"in "it is evolved to be virtually painless" refer to? What verb do you use instead of "is" in "is evolved"?

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  23. This video is really funny. When I was little child, I was terrified to go to the dentist, I did not know what will happen. I think it is very important that the doctor will tell the patient in advance what he is about to do, so the patient will don't be afraid. There are both good and bad dentists, but it depends on us which ones we choose.

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    1. Nice thought, Abigel, but a grammar mistake: the patient will don’t be afraid.

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    2. the patient not to be afraid

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    3. Abigel, the correct form of the future is:
      "so that the patient won’t be afraid"

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  24. In our country we don’t talk very much about dentists except of the moment when they are suspected of a case of malpraxis. People should not have to fear dentists, but we can correct this issue at an early age, showing kids that we can help them to have beautiful teeth.

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  25. Dentists are considered people from high society, they are appreciated and respected for their mastery and professionalism.

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  26. This is indeed very funny,I think that dentists nowadays are portrayed definitely as positive characters,even I (as a patient not as a dental student),and I was just terrified only by the idea of going to dentist,but yeah,times have changed,and significant improvements have been made,most of the people are no longer afraid that the dentists might not do a good job. The only times dentists are in a bad light is in comedy films,these days I mean. so, dentists, keep up the good work, I think this is a good example and a clear proof that anything can be improved and that perseverance is the key.

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  27. Unfortunately,dentistry is viewed and promoted in mass media like a big source of pain and the dentist is promoted like a killer without mercy. I don't know an example but I can tell that this is people way of thinking about dentists. I think that with professionalism and devotion,I can change this way of thinking.

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  28. How are dentists portrayed in the media? I don't really know about how they are portrayed in the media but I can tell how are they considerd in the public awareness. Everybody from this region thinks that we work less than an engineer, earn more money than other white-collar people and (!) learn less than a general doctor ... In turn they have the same responsability, risk of work and physical effort. Do not talk about the cost of materials and tchnology!

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    1. Hello Nora,
      I understand your point. Can you reconsider the last sentence? It is not what I think you really meant.

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