Show your pearly whites!

Rather a strange post this week you may think, but I find it quite toothsome! Teeth have been on my mind rather a lot lately. Our family has a great dental plan and going to the dentist has almost always been a positive experience for me, but trying to schedule appointments for adult children who are away from home (at university) and may or may not be covered by the plan, unless you fill out the proper paperwork, can be a bit of a challenge.  Added to that my hubby has informed me that he may need braces!!!

While reading Chris Ryan's Strike Back a few months ago, I came upon a scene of tooth extraction (with no pain killers) which reminded me of the scene with Dustin Hoffman and Sir Lawrence Olivier in the movie Marathon Man.  Hoffman's character is a graduate student and a marathon runner who inadvertently gets mixed up with spies and an evil Nazi dentist, resulting in a torture scene that would even make Spooks fans squirm!
WARNING: If you are afraid of Dentists, watching this scene will not be advantageous to you!

Marathon Man ( 1976)


WAIT! Don't run away! (At least I didn't show you a scene from the horrible dentist slasher film The Dentist 2 starring former L.A. Law divorce lawyer Corbin Bernsen -- they made a sequel??!)
Marathon Man is an fabulous thriller with great performances all round. It is based on the book by William Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay. William Goldman is one of my faves, especially for writing The Princess Bride, which is also a super movie....but I digress.

After a scene like that one, we need some comedy relief. Here's Tim Conway and Harvey Korman from The Carol Burnett Show with their famous Dentist skit.

 More funny stuff about dentists...Here's Bill Cosby!

And now how about a bit of music?  

Steve Martin is a maniacal dentist in this crazy musical film (but he certainly enjoys his work!)

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

I can't resist showing this scene too. Bill Murray and Steve Martin together!

I can't believe I forgot about this one! Here's a late addition to this page:

The Painless Dentist Song by Allan Sherman.

I really enjoyed this movie starring funny man Ricky Gervais about a dentist who, after dying for 7 minutes during a routine operation, is brought back to life but is haunted by ghosts who all want a favour from him.

Ghost Town (2009)

Now here is what I was talking about. In Chris Ryan's Strike Back, Richard Armitage plays John Porter, a former SAS officer who had a bad experience in a past assignment that keeps haunting him.  When he realizes that because of his history, he might be the only one who can save a female reporter kidnapped by terrorists in Iraq, he volunteers for duty.  The following screencaps are courtesy of Richard Armitage Central.

An army dentist is implanting a tracking device 

(although JP just thinks he's getting complimentary dental work)!

Don't hurt him!!

Now I'm not sure, because I haven't been able to see episodes 1 and 2 of Strike Back on Sky 1 which debuted in Great Britain with much fanfare last week, but I think this next picture might be from the tooth extraction scene. Athough it looks painful, it is certainly can't be as harrowing as the scene in the book!

Is it safe?

  Porter gripped the sides of the chair. He closed his eyes, opened his mouth. He could smell the stewed fruit washing over him as the old woman leant into his face. She said something to H----, and he replied, but Porter couldn't make out a single word. She tapped one tooth then another with a scalpel: two of the teeth that had been replaced for him back at the Firm's headquarters. Porter could feel a clamp being placed inside his mouth to hold it open, then a wrench being screwed onto one of his teeth. H---- knelt down, pressing a strip of leather into Porter's hand. "Here, pull on this," he said quietly.

  Don't yell, he told himself grimly.

  The woman yanked at the wrench. Porter could feel a bolt of pain jabbing right through him as the nerves attaching the tooth to the jaw screamed out in agony. It was like having a needle threaded straight into your veins. There was a crunching sound, then the scratching of metal against bone. Porter gripped hold of the strip of leather, twisting it into his hand, trying to keep the pain under control. 

  Another yank. A fresh wave of pain swept through every nerve in Porter's body. (Expletive!), he muttered, making sure he kept his mouth open and the word to himself. He could feel the sweat dripping off his brow. The woman said something to H----. Porter opened his eyes. He could tell the wrench was still clamped to his tooth. H--- was leaning into the wrench, a grimace on his face. Porter steeled himself, shut his eyes tight and gripped hard on the sides of the chair. He could feel the force of the wrench smashing into his gums. Then a snapping sound. A searing pain ran up through his mouth, colliding inside his head.

  He opened his eyes. He could feel some blood hitting the back of his throat, and washing across his tongue. The side of his mouth was numb from the impact. In front of him, H--- was holding the tooth inside the wrench, showing it to the old woman. There was still some blood dripping from the stem. "It's clean," said H--- with a shrug. "Maybe it's the other one."

Ryan, Chris. Strike Back. London: Arrow Books, c2007, p. 431-433.

Now look at the beautiful mouthful of teeth he is sporting here. Enough to make a dentist proud!

I honestly forgot where I found this marvelous shot. Please inform me about who should get the credit. Usually when I come across such amazing pictures I am so stunned by man beauty it is a wonder that I can even figure out how to save them to my computer!

Until next time...keep smiling!