This is a pleasant office full of magazines and soft music. You are welcome to come here and relax on the couches; wash up in the restroom if you wish, and chat with the receptionist. Feel free to flip through the pamphlets about tooth decay and the newest dental products.

And for once, you can enjoy your magazine articles in peace, without the latent dread of someone in a white coat soon admonishing you for not brushing enough; or the bright light in your eyes and the squealing tartar remover.

After about half an hour, the adontist comes out of his office to greet you, shakes your hand, makes pleasant conversation with you, and invites you to make an appointment in about a month to come again. He then retires to his office. Of course, there's no medical need to make another appointment, but you find yourself oddly tempted to come back anyway, seeing how relaxing it is and how nice it is to be able to justify leaving your workplace occasionally for "a dental appointment."
-- phundug, Oct 18 2005

Also called a therapist, methinks. Or possibly a library, although the librarian is more likely to shush you than chat.
-- DrCurry, Oct 18 2005


Leaving only the tangential patient for the ortho-dontist, I suppose.
-- theircompetitor, Oct 18 2005


"I only come here for the notvacaine."
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 19 2005


That's certainly a trivialization of therapists, DrC.
-- bristolz, Oct 19 2005


Strangely enough, this is exactly how 75% of my trips to the dentist go apart from the dentist glancing briefly into my mouth and saying, "Good....Next!". I just have healthy teeth.

On my last visit I even got my 10 Euro practice fee back for being such a good girl.
-- squeak, Oct 19 2005


"A Trivialization Of Therapists". Sounds like a Xanth novel title
-- theircompetitor, Oct 19 2005


Cmon, dentists' waiting rooms are sooo much more pleasant than a dank library or a socially uncomfortable therapist waiting room where you're afraid to stare at the other people and there are no fun pamphlets to read.
-- phundug, Oct 19 2005


bristolz: not at all.
-- DrCurry, Oct 19 2005


Wonder what licenses and/or degrees would be required.
-- RayfordSteele, Oct 19 2005


DrC: I disagree. I think that comparing the description, the idea here as written, to a therapist is a mis-characterization--a diminishment--of the practice of therapy.

Not that it's all that important to me but it does strike me as an aspersion.
-- bristolz, Oct 20 2005


what's a dentist?
-- xenzag, Oct 20 2005


<obligatory "when I first read this" anno> When I first read this I thought it was about a young, good-looking Greek dentist with an exclusive all-female client list.

UB, when I was a young child, my first dentist owned a small sailboat. When he retired a few years ago, he owned a yacht.
-- Canuck, Oct 20 2005


bristolz: no aspersions cast, imo. Describing a therapist's work as a pleasant and relaxing conversation really isn't far off the mark (perhaps you are objecting to the pleasant part?). And I certainly know enough people to whom a visit to the therapist is exactly like phundug describes.
-- DrCurry, Oct 20 2005


Canuck - was yacht built out of teeth?
-- xenzag, Oct 20 2005


Hmm. Okay, DrC. I won't disagree with that.
-- bristolz, Oct 20 2005


I actually think the therapist's role is a vital component of our civilization (even if it is not always filled by a therapist - in Britain, our dentist used to act as a therapist for my mother, which is what prompted my comparison).
-- DrCurry, Oct 20 2005


"So, tell me about your relationship your father, Mrs Curry."
"Mmmg faaahhhg ghhnnne ggg mmm fmaoo."
"I see. And how does that make you feel?"
-- calum, Oct 20 2005


[xenzag], I think his yacht was made from cavities.
-- Canuck, Oct 23 2005


[A trivialization of therapists]

Surely this is the plural form of therapists a la 'a herd of wildebeest'?
-- rubyminky, Oct 23 2005


two points to rubyminky!
-- lucien, Oct 24 2005


Canuck: You need to get down to Saratoga, CA to visit Dr. Anthony Ellenikiotis, who has a kind of young George Hamilton look about him: perfect tan, swaggering presence, and an office full of the brightest, straightest teeth you've ever seen.

He is quite possibly the most self-possessed person I've ever met. He simply *knows* that he is the world's best orthodontist, and he's not at all shy about sharing that information with you.

And, while I'm male and decidedly straight, he's also probably the handsomist dentist in the country. Adontist doesn't describe him, but Adonis comes pretty close.

While he probably doesn't own an Aston Martin Vantage, I'm pretty sure he could buy one or two if the mood struck him.
-- land, Oct 25 2005



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