On Friday, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton convicted dentist Seth Lookhart of 46 felonies and misdemeanors. You may recall that Lookhart infamously "performed a dental extraction procedure on a sedated patient while riding a hoverboard" and sent the video to his pals. In 2017, the state filed a suit charging Lookhart with "unlawful dental acts." His sentencing is in April. From CNN:

In at least one conversation, Lookhart joked that performing oral surgery on a hoverboard was a "new standard of care," the lawsuit said, citing phone records.

Lookhart was also charged with medical assistance fraud for billing Medicaid for procedures that were either unnecessary or not properly justified and theft of $25,000 or more by diverting funds from Alaska Dental Arts, among dozens of others.

The evidence indicated Lookhart "believed that he could get away with his fraud indefinitely, and that he believed his scheme was foolproof," Judge Wolverton said, according to the Department of Law's news release. That evidence "was often supported, and often in excruciating detail, by Lookhart's own texts, photos and videos."

Driving near Pittsburgh, PA, my wife Heather noticed this excellent billboard featuring a woman saying "Scared of the dentist? No, I called and got SEDATED!". Read the rest

Dentistry has always been medicine's poor cousin, lower in prestige and funding, with much less definitive research; this means that it's harder for someone to point at a procedure and definitively say, "That was unnecessary." Read the rest

It's been ten years since the people of Juneau, Alaska succumbed to conspiracy theories and voted to ruin their kids' teeth by removing fluoride from the drinking water, and it shows. Read the rest

For at least the third time, construction workers in Georgia have opened up the walls of a former dentist's office only to discover thousands of teeth in the wall cavity. Read the rest

The Agent Gallery of Chicago has bought a large lot of vintage dental training manikins and other gorgeous, nightmarish gadgets from the Hellraiserverse. (via JWZ) Read the rest

Who needs anesthesia when you have a sharp rock and some naturally-occurring asphalt to fill a cavity? Archaeologists found evidence of Paleolithic dentistry. Read the rest

Former dentist Kuang-Yi Ku created a prototype orthodontic retainer designed to improve the fellatio experience for the wearer's partner. After practicing dentistry for six years, Ku is now a student at Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. His Fellatio Modification Project is a speculative design effort featured in the Science Gallery London's new exhibit Mouthy: Into the Orifice. The prosthetic consists of a custom orthodontic retainer with the top "embossed" with soft denture base material to create nubs on the roof of the mouth. From New Scientist:

Science doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to incorporating human sexuality into research and practice. Dentistry, for example, considers three functions for the oral cavity: aesthetics, pronunciation and mastication. “There is another function, sex, which is never mentioned in the textbooks,” says Ku. “I’m from the gay community and I realised that the medical school is a very patriarchal system, very serious, and the professors are very traditional, particularly in Asian countries. So I wanted to approach that relationship.”

Instead of treating disease and restoring normal function to the mouth, Ku imagines dentists enhancing it along one particular line, the act of performing fellatio. To do this, he created retainers which offer a more intense sexual experience for your (male) partner.

"Sex and dentistry: I made a fellatio prosthetic for my mouth" (New Scientist)

Read the rest

Justin Shafer was roused from his bed this week by thunderous knocking at his North Richland Hills, Texas home, and when he opened the door, found himself staring down the barrel of a 'big green' assault weapon, wielded by one of the 12-15 armed FBI agents on his lawn. Read the rest

People are more likely to experience complications caused by having their wisdom teeth pulled than they are from keeping them in their head, according to several studies cited in this Fusion article by Rob Wile.

Indeed, Britain’s National Health Service now advises the following on wisdom teeth removal:

Your wisdom teeth don’t usually need to be removed if they’re impacted but aren’t causing any problems. This is because there’s no proven benefit of doing this and it carries the risk of complications.

Even if they’re impacted!

This Russian video shows a high-tech, terrifying in-mouth CNC mill that uses built-in cameras and a machine controlled drill to precisely mill out rotten parts of teeth while you clench the machine's anchor in your jaw, whimpering around it (usefully, it doubles as a gag). (via JWZ) Read the rest

Only the bunny knows his dark secret.

What are your Creepy Easter pics? Read the rest

Back in 2011, I posted that one of John Lennon's teeth was up for auction. Canadian dentist Michael Zuk bought the molar for approximately $34,000 and says he would eventually like to use it to clone Lennon and raise him as his own son.

"He would still be his exact duplicate but you know, hopefully keep him away from drugs and cigarettes, that kind of thing," Zuk said.

Zuk has all kinds of other plans involving the tooth, including a DNA pendant, fine art photos, a documentary film, charity fundraising... It goes on and on over at JohnLennonTooth.com.

(NME) Read the rest

The Pogues' Shane MacGowan is seeking a dentist to fix his famously bad teeth. In exchange, he has offered to appear in advertising for the dentist. "Shane is keen to find a dentist, so he can start in Hollywood film," MacGowan's girlfriend, Victoria Mary Clarke, posted to Twitter. MacGowan had dentures but apparently prefers not to wear them. (NME) Read the rest

You know what you missed? You missed the chance to buy this amazing set of vintage derpface choppers ("Authentic original used dental school teaching device."), which sold on eBay for $400.

Dental mannequin steampunk old device vintage dentiform head face teeth antique

(via JWZ) Read the rest

In this video, an enterprising young fellow ties his loose tooth to the projectile in his Nerf Big Bow and fires the weapon, taking his tooth out in one glorious, nearly painless instant.

Pulling a tooth using a Nerf gun

(via Geekologie) Read the rest