S3 Ep1: Dental Phantoms, Tooth Horror, and Medical Simulation

Emma and Christy look at dental phantoms — terrifying but ubiquitous tools in dental education since the nineteenth century that feature humanoid heads made out of metal or wood, and a gaping mouth full of teeth. With these objects as our starting point, we talk about why dentists and dentistry are so scary, collectors of vintage medical devices, mouth erotics, the history of simulation and ‘machines’ in medical education, ghosts of the face and the word ‘phantom’, faciality and animality, face transplants and facelessness, dental horror (particularly Little Shop of Horrors) and fetish, and teeth as ‘luxury bones.’

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE IMAGES WE DISCUSS, as well as complete show notes, references, and suggestions for further reading.

MEDIA DISCUSSED
Columbia Dentoform Corp of New York, Mid-century Dental Phantom Head Model on Custom Stand (c. 1960s)
Agent Gallery Chicago, ‘Dental Phantoms’
Agent Gallery Chicago, Group of Dental Phantoms, KaVo Professional Dental Phantom Simulation (twentieth century)
Brian Kubasco, Steampunk Skull Dental Manikin Oxygen Version 6 (2013)
Constantin Brancusi, Sleeping Muse (1910)
‘Teeth on a Stick’ Dental Phantom: E. Oswald Fergus, ‘Neue Erfindungen und Verbesserungen - Zahnaerztiliches Phantom’ (1894)
‘Skull’ Dental Phantom: Eduard Fleischer, Ein zahnaerztliches Phantom (1878)
‘Wig Maker Model’ Dental Phantom: Utrecht University Museum Collection, Phantom Head (late 1800s)
‘Realistic Face’ Dental Phantom: Utrecht University Museum Collection, Phantom Head (date unknown)
‘Realistic Face (contemporary)’ Dental Phantom: Unknown, Dental Phantom Head and Rubber Shroud (1990s)
ASMR cavity removal example (2022)
Example of memento mori painting: Edwaert Collier, Vanitas (1663)
Fox Photos / Getty Images, ‘Two trainee dental hygienists operating on a dentist's dummy’ (1960)
‘Xenomorph’ from the film Alien (1979)
‘Demogorgon’ from the show Stranger Things (2016)
Madame du Coudray, Obstetric Phantom / Machine (mid-eighteenth century)
Koichi Shibata, Geburtshülfliche Taschen-Phanome (1892)
Kevin James Thornton video: Tammy the Face Ghost (2024)
Mark Gilbert, ‘Saving Faces’ series (1999)
ORLAN, Surgical Series (1980s/1990s)
Frank Oz, dir., ‘Dentist!’ from Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Gore Verbinski, dir., Dental Scene and Mouth Scene from A Cure for Wellness (2016)
The animal mouth the dentist shows Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors
Thomas Rowlandson, Transplanting of Teeth (1787)

CREDITS
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‘Drawing Blood’ cover art © Emma Merkling
All audio and content © Emma Merkling and Christy Slobogin
Intro music: ‘There Will Be Blood’ by Kim Petras, © BunHead Records 2019. We’re still trying to get hold of permissions for this song – Kim Petras text us back!!