THE BONE GUYS AUGUST 2023 NEWSLETTER
SOME LIKE IT HOT AND SOME SWEAT WHEN BONE GUYS IS ON
From out of the lazy, hazy days of summer springs the family-run enterprise known as The Bone Guys, primed to put you onto the craziest, strangest, and most compelling stories from the world of oral hygiene.
We’re back for August, with news headlines and hilarity about teeth and gums, as well as all the latest updates from our friends and partners.
The Bone Guys is a family business operated out of California and Michigan that provides the best dental products in the industry, as well as dedicated dental training and non-profit events.
And this wacky monthly newsletter you’re currently reading words in.
It’s a space we’d like to share with you. Please join our community and email us your own favorite fundental stories, photos, cartoons, and anything else with our readers to see them in the next issue.
THE MOLAR EXPRESS
—3D-printed tiger teeth may help save the rare animals from extinction in India, as they’re provided to the men of the country’s Nyishi community, which traditionally affix tiger and clouded leopard jaws to their machetes.
—A British former model had a tooth fall out during a livestream. Doh!
—A pioneering Japanese dental medicine project is making strides toward clinical trials, with the aim of becoming the world's first tooth-regrowing treatment.
—Searching for megalodon teeth has turned into a sport in the U.S. South. But you’ve got to look out for the gators.
—A mother of five died after using cocaine and trying to rip out her teeth in a manic state.
—Our hunter-gatherer ancestors seemed to have perfectly straight teeth, a result, it appears, of our jaws shrinking over the millennia, likely a product of the softer foods that became more common over the generations.
—A retired dentist in Perth, Australia, is restoring the decaying teeth of recovering meth addicts, ecstasy users, the formerly incarcerated, and alcoholics, saying, “part of the recovery is really about being able to look at someone and talk to them without feeling ashamed.”
PEE-WEE HERMAN: TOOTHCARE HERO
Like so many across the world, our hearts broke to learn that Paul Reubens, the comedian and actor behind Pee-wee Herman, passed away last month.
Among the many enduring images that immediately come to mind is this one you see above, featuring a foamy-mouthed Pee-wee brushing his teeth with a way-too-big brush and barking “Mad dog, mad dog!” in the mirror before abruptly abandoning the entire enterprise.
But Pee-wee’s dedication to clean teeth and gums goes beyond gags. Like many of our childhood heroes, Pee-wee’s show was there to educate young people beyond their fears and reservations in life, as much as it was there to entertain and amuse us in the process.
We remember repeated viewings of a particularly strong, particularly funny episode of season 3 of Pee-wee’s Playhouse titled “To Tell the Tooth.” The whole shebang starts when Pee-wee lectures his crew of trippy animated inanimate objects how important it is to pay attention to your dental health.
“If you’re good to your teeth, your teeth will be good to you,” he tells Randy, the 1950’s ginger bully puppet.
Boom! A sudden toothache strikes Pee-wee, who now must put his money where his rapidly decaying mouth is. But it turns out, he’s terrified of visiting the dentist. Pee-wee tries to hide the pain, wriggling on the floor yelling “ow,” while insisting he’s fine.
Speaking of fine, that’s when Ms. Yvonne comes to the rescue. Using her feminine charms and kindness, she convinces Pee-wee to go see the tooth doc, bringing him courage and relief in the process. She repeats Pee-wee’s own lesson: “If you’re good to your teeth, your teeth will be good to you.”
We then get a 1950’s documentary about the importance of the dentist. Pee-wee comes back from the dentist and after first faking out his friends, announces, “there wasn’t anything to be afraid of at all!”
This mini-drama is its own hero’s cycle, with a once struggling Pee-wee emerging reborn, the scared Pee-wee of the past shuffled off into the eternal abyss. He is a new man. Or a new boy. Or a new manchild. Or whatever.
You can see the episode in its entirety here.
Pee-wee’s courageous example follows a long legacy of child-friendly characters metaphorically holding our hands on the way to see a DDS. The episode joins such favorites of ours as Curious George Visits the Dentist and Spongebob Squarepants’ friend Patrick’s own nervous foray to get his teeth cleaned.
The episode demonstrates the genius of Pee-wee Herman and so many of our valued creators of children’s entertainment. They discretely tuck the ability to pass on an important lesson to the youth into a fun, bite-size segment that kids will benefit from, as the message sinks in like a spoonful of sugar chasing the medicine down.
It’s that kind of emotional intelligence and talking up, not down, to children that made Pee-wee and Paul Reubens one of the greatest entertainers, for kids and adults alike.
Mr. Reubens, you will be missed!
HUMOR HAS IT....
ABOUT US
We are a family enterprise distributing dental products from a marvelous group of select companies—whether it be a non-profit source of restorative biologics, a high quality & cost-effective surgical solution, or simply a product referral.
We’re focused on education and helping others succeed while enjoying everything quirky and special about the dental community.
We love the world of dentistry nearly as much as we love the dentists we count ourselves so lucky to work with. Let’s join hands and celebrate all things teeth, from the practical to the extremely weird and everything in between.
A REFERRAL REWARD FOR OUR READERS
Contact Colin Browne at Maxxeus with a referral in order to win a special prize!
INSTAGRAM POST OF THE MONTH:
“ Tooth anatomy pizza time!”
Come follow the Bone Guys on Instagram. We’ll have fun.
