Whiny Mondoweiss article about awkward moment at dentist's office

Awkward moment at the dentist's office? It must be apartheid!

. . . A few minutes later, my middle daughter was reclining in the hygienist’s chair having her teeth cleaned.

“Apparently the person who scheduled your appointment at your last visit thought you wanted to see the dentist,” she said as she worked. “And everyone who sees the dentist for the first time needs an x-ray.”

“You provide services in Hebrew and in Russian,” I said. “Why not in Arabic? Isn’t Arabic also an official language of Israel?”

There was a pause and the hygienist looked at me, humanity shining in her eyes. She didn’t respond to me, but she spoke to my daughter. I think she said: “Spit.”

"Dentist Accused Of Using Paper Clips In Root Canals"

It seems that this first sentence should read "Medicaid fraud and using paper clips." From the AP:

A former dentist in Massachusetts has pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud for using paper clips instead of stainless steel posts in root canals. [...]

Authorities say instead of stainless steel posts for root canals, he used sections of paper clips — which can cause pain and even infection — in an effort to save money.

(North) Korean News: "New Invention for Dental Correction Made in Korea"

"A very small screw which is implanted on tooth root"? I think I'll stick to my imperialist dentist, thank you.

Pyongyang Medical College of Kim Il Sung University invented a new dental correction device.

The existing devices are complicated in operation and take a long time in treatment.

Pae Jae Son, a 47-year old researcher of the university, told KCNA that the new invention is a very small screw which is implanted on tooth root.

It is considered a better device for dental correction.

The titanium-made screw is low in production cost and simple in operation.

It also takes a short time in treatment.

The new invention has already been introduced in Pyongyang City Dental Preventive Hospital and other dental hospitals in the country.

Fars News (Iran): "Iran Ready to Send Dentists to Regional Countries"

If I worked hard enough at it, I would probably have a post for this blog every day. This story, for instance:

A senior Iranian health ministry official announced on Monday that Tehran is prepared to dispatch dentists and dental care specialists to the regional states.

"Iran is ready to train oral and dental care specialists and send them to the countries of the region," Head of the Health Ministry's Oral and Dental Care Department Mohammad Hossein Khoshnevisan told FNA on Monday.

He further stressed Iran's tight cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) in area of oral and dental care, and announced that Iran is due to host the next meeting of the WHO East Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO)

The meeting, which will be the first of its kind in Iran, will be attended by representatives and oral and dental care specialists from 22 world countries, he added.

Iran has taken wide strides in science and technology, particularly in medical and medicinal fields, in recent years.

Earlier this month, Iranian Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi boasted the country's astonishing progress in producing medical tools, equipment and drugs, saying that Iran ranks first in synthesizing different drugs and medications in the region.

"Iran certainly ranks first in the region in producing medical equipment and medicine and those who stand behind us cannot be compared with Iran at all," Vahid Dastjerdi said addressing the inaugural ceremony of an international exhibition on medical, dentistry and laboratory equipments in Tehran at the time. [...]

North Korea makes great leap forward in toothbrush production

This article makes me so happy:

The Pyongyang Daily Necessities Factory turns out varieties of consumer goods.

Recently, it began mass-producing a new kind of portable toothbrush.

Dr. Ri Kyong Il, a workshop head of the factory, told KCNA that the toothbrush consists of case, brush and paste. The case is also used as the handle.

The new model is lower in production cost than other kinds of portable toothbrush.

The factory also produces antibiotic toothbrushes with nano-materials and functional materials.

"Ex-dentist" told "Freemason conspiracy no excuse for dodging taxes"

"Ex-dentist" is an interesting description of a person. It doesn't seem to mean that she retired, but that she abandoned that wonderful profession:

A former dentist who says her trial on income tax evasion was fixed by a shadowy conspiracy of Freemasons and Jews has lost her latest bid to get out of paying a quarter-million dollar fine.

Vancouver Dr. Eva Notburga Marita Sydel was convicted of tax evasion four years ago for failing to report a whopping $750,000 in income. She was fined $244,447 and sentenced to jail for 18 months.

Although she served out her jail sentence, Sydel has yet to pay any of the fines.

She filed an appeal of her conviction in 2007, but abandoned it the next year.

In her latest in a long series of appearances in B.C. courtrooms, Sydel petitioned to renew her appeal, claiming that she has found new evidence that provincial court Judge Paul Meyers, a Jew, had discriminated against because she is German by descent.

Acting as her own lawyer, she also argued that Meyers was part of a conspiracy of Freemasons -- an international fraternal organization dating back to the 1600s. Conspiracy theorists often claim that the "invisible empire" of Freemasons has quietly controlled governments and economies worldwide for centuries -- if not millennia. [...]

And will continue to do so until its teeth are pulled . . .

Ahmadinejad goes dental

Here.