For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for March 14, 2021

What is the dental joke in the first two panels? (Must be a force of habit for the hygienist student to floss her own teeth bare handed at home.)

She’s doing a horrible job of it.

Is this a new strip, I don’t remember it from my old comic books.

So why was she not wearing protection in the first place? Isn’t that the first thing you learn in dental school?

I have a hard time believing a student would have gotten that far without gloving and masking to be force of habit.

Is this called “Tickling the Ivories”? If so, where is the music?

Nowadays the entire dental office is not only gloved, but gowned, double masked and face shielded. It feels like sitting in a NASA clean room. We can’t even sit in the waiting room. You park, call the front desk, wait in your car until an assistant comes out, takes your temp and then escorts you in straight to an exam room.

I was never a big fan of funny comics set in dentist’s offices. Today’s FBOFW version hasn’t changed my mind.

That was a long fishing expedition for that punch line. Don’t use floss for fishing line either.

That’s a loong way to go for that punchline LOL

Oy vey!

Lynn’s Comments:

I really got myself into trouble with this one. In the second panel, “checking pockets” was something that used to be done during a regular check-up. This involved using a probe to explore the depth of the tissue holding each tooth. The tiny spaces at the front, back and sides of each tooth are called “pockets.” A healthy tooth has shallow pockets, meaning there is substantial tissue holding the tooth and the bone has not receded. “Long in the tooth” is when the bone recedes, the gum does as well, and the tooth root begins to show. I knew dentists and their staff would get the joke, but the general public might not… so I added the note, “a dental joke.” It was not accepted as such. I did this strip for the sheer joy of the punchline, which was a dreadful pun. I was proud of it. The number of irate dental folks who wrote to tell me that checking pockets was NOT a joke, but a serious procedure and I should know better than to make fun of it. Well, excuuuuuse me!!! I was also on the carpet for suggesting that not all assistants wear gloves. In fact, at the time this strip was written (early ‘90s), wearing gloves was only just becoming a medical requirement. Yup. I apologized and explained my way through the letters, but the slap stung. This has been a long-winded explanation, but I’m glad to get it off my jest!

Dental jokes: For whenever you’re feeling down in the mouth.

Ok. Respect! You win Doc.

That was some setup.

Off topic. This is how I look when shopping at Frys/Kroger super market in NW Tucson during the first months of the Pandemic with mask & gloves, & will continue until nearly everyone is vaccinated!

please quit. dentists are competing with Veterinary doctors, for the highest suicide rates of any profession in the USA. search NOMV—it’s very real.

But - did anyone notice John isn’t wearing a mask in the first panel? And he’s with a patient.

wouldn’t that be one of the first things taught in dental school?

That’s actually pretty punny.

All the staff at my dentist wear both a mask and a shield while performing a procedure.

where is his mask and gloves?

Just having been to the dentist this past week, he said he can’t wear a shield because the water spray from the drill coats the shield and he can’t see. He does wear a mask and gloves, and has been vaccinated.

Would not have let her near me without gloves in the first place.

Groan….

YOU might catch some germs from HIM!!!

Better check his pockets before he gets the bill.

Crappy pun #36381

I, for one, am grateful for the fact that dentists and doctors (and their staff) wear gloves and masks these days. It wasn’t so true in 1992 when this was originally published, but I’m glad it is now.

I recently had a procedure done in a hospital, and if I counted correctly, the nurse that did the OR prep changed her gloves at least 7 times. Every time she would leave the room to do or check on something, she would use hand sanitizer and re-glove. I do feel sorry for the workers, though. Their skin must be so dry and chapped from all that sanitizer.

I used to think it was “weird” almost an insult when the Dentist and Hygienist started using gloves and masks when working on my mouth. Now I can’t imagine anything else.

Bonus panel: John finds a rat with a baseball bat in his office. “Normally, I only do this to Stephen Pastis…”

What type of special ed Canadian Dental Assistant school doesn’t teach the basics of Infection Control to their students before sending them out in the real world???

John is making a point. As it is Lynn Johnston’s way, he is required to point his index finger in the air.

A bad dad joke at the end! Hahaha

Sounds like Lynn has been reading Pearls Before Swine.

For the life of me, I don’t know why she didn’t slip on gloves before she began the exam. I’m sure that it’s hammered into students’ skulls in the hygenist programs that they have to put on gloves before they do anything else.

This is such a great take !

I just went to my first appt since covid and everybody in the office was practically in hazmat suits. It was somewhat reassuring.

Hmmm…is this another Canadian thing? Flossing procedure at the dentist? I never had my dentists floss for me. They used the metal stick with a hook at the end to etch the spaces between teeth to dislodge food before rinsing.

Now I know why my pockets are always empty when I leave the dentist’s office.