Personified Teeth Dental Signs

[Bergen, Norway]

A digression, in honor of Norwegian Constituion Day. What we have here is not a personified tooth, but Bactus the “tooth troll,” from a the classic Norwegian novel Karius and Bactus, come to life. Yes, it’s a human cavity troll, riding a truck float in honor of the University of Bergen’s Dentistry program, through the largest, most insane parade I’ve yet witnessed (this is another story entirely), waving what appears to be a pickaxe/tooth destroyer, at the crowds. And menacingly. 

Sadly, I have not seen even one personified tooth dental sign in all of this city. But I did look.

[Tallahassee, FL / snapped by Sam Greenspan]

There are almost too many crucial details to point out on the “Molar Express” mural. (Sam gets all credit for the name.) I’ll toss out a few, then you should find yourselves a couple more. 

1. Dental floss flashing jazz hands
2. Tooth brushes with mouths depicted via bristle-splits
3. Engineer-tooth with knees
4. Toothpaste holding his own cap
5. Do all of these guys seem to be tripping, or is it me?
6. CHEW CHEW (ha!)

[Long Beach, CA / snapped by - you guessed it - Lu Olkowski]

We appear to be on a pediatric dentristry roll. But c’mon, tooth-riding-giraffe beast out tooth-holding-balloons, hands down, yes? It’s a strange pairing, because giraffes actually don’t have very many teeth.

P.S. Smile builders, huh. And what’s with the vertical, pointy shadow on the side of this tooth’s face?

[Richmond, VA / snapped by Will Rogers]

Nothing like a floating, patriotic balloon-wielding tooth with prominent eyebrows, an outstretched hand and one root pointier than the other, for reassuring small children in Richmond that “this won’t hurt one bit.” 

[South Philly / snapped by Jeff Towne]

It’s the hook on the end of the toothbrush, on top of the Band-Aids, on top of the “Doc”, on top of the ALL CAPS CAVITY BUSTERS, on top of the eyebrows and cute little button nose, on top of such wide-spread tooth fingers, that really gets me with this one. And, as Jeff pointed out, the clear (and somewhat irrational) optimism radiating from this resilient fellow. So much to appreciate!

[near Stanford, CA / snapped by Amy Wilkinson]

Not an actual dental sign, but how could we not include Super Rakshak PT in the mix? You decide which is creepier: biceps, or missing head.

[Montreal, Quebec / snapped by Julia Barton]

Ooh la la! Regardez this PTDS avec le grand pouce. And is that a black eye? Or just a Cheerio? Either way, I *do* love a French tooth sign nestled in an urban nighttime landscape.

[Tel Aviv-ish, Israel / snapped by Leo Schlosberg]

Shalom chaverim! It’s unclear if there’s a dentist nearby, or it’s just a tooth enthusiast who lives here, but introducing our first Israeli tooth (or “shen”) - unusually orange, and with a sideways grin, and some active peripheral vision. The purple background adds a nice touch, too. 

[snapped by Sam Greenspan / somewhere sunny]

I had been holding off on sharing anything but dentist advertisments depicting personified teeth, but this moustachioed fella (and a bit of cajoling from Sam) tipped the scales. It’s not just the well-groomed fuzz above his lip (? on a tooth?), but the jaunty pointing index finger (? on a tooth?) that so beguiles me. And disturbs me. But also those damn eyebrows, and his inexplicably, unevenly thick roots/legs. And the mental image of a bunch of dentists-to-be standing around with moustaches, sharpening their instruments. So you can see, I really didn’t have a choice.

And so the door opens for additional personified teeth depictions found not-necessarily-on-signs-advertising-dentistry. It’s a slippery slope, but I’ll bring you with me, and we’ll all be ok in the end.

[Sunset and Echo Park, LA / snapped by Lu Olkowski (she’s BACK!)]

Wouldn’t YOU be a happy tooth, if surrounded by this lovely mural? P.S. Check out the teeth on this tooth!