The Evil Dentist Trope by Agrima Thakur & Meghna Mukhopadhyay

The experience of excruciating dental pain has stood the test of time. Shakespeare once wrote, “For there was never yet a philosopher that could endure the toothache patiently.” Artists have been documenting dental pain and, quite interestingly, the persona of people who treat teeth since time immemorial. Take, for example, this article about scary dental art from seventeenth-century Europe, which claims, ‘Today, going to the dentist is not among the most pleasant activities, but in the 17th century, a simple operation could be a distinctly traumatic experience, as the numerous paintings of cavadents, the ancestors of modern dentists, depict’ (1). The very history of medical procedures before the advent of anaesthesia sounds like a horror story. It is said that patients were knocked out of their consciousness before medical procedures, so they would sit still and comply.

But dentists are respectable people in society, right? They’re reliable, educated, and wise. People trust them with their health; some even trust them with family matters. Why, then, are dentists depicted as secretly sadistic people with easy access to drugs and tools which can harm the characters of a movie for the sake of the plot? Let’s uncover the ‘Evil Dentist Trope’ prevalent in films and the media.

Is the Evil Dentist Trope a thing?

Films, media, and pop culture have played quite a role in the perception of dental professionals. When news reports such as this one, titled ‘Is your greedy dentist ripping you off with unnecessary visits?’ express alarm and doubt about lengthy and expensive dental visits, one starts relating to the narrative. (2) After all, art imitates life and vice versa. There must have been people who were prey to unfair tactics by dental practitioners and now hold a bias which has seeped into their art. 

Older films explore themes of madness, power, and fear associated with dental procedures, often amplifying the horror element through the portrayal of the dentist as a villain. An example is the 1976 movie Marathon Man which features a dentist who is not just a Nazi war criminal, but a sadist who tortures his patients using his dental tools. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) shows a sadistic dentist who sings lyrics like “And I get off on the pain I inflict.” 

The beloved children’s film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is about how a dentist’s mistreatment of his child led to a maladjusted adult, who lures innocent children into his chocolate factory and puts them in grave danger. Bollywood is not far behind when it comes to the evil dentist trope. Take, for example, the 2022 film Freddy, featuring Kartik Aaryan. Freddy, a dentist, is socially awkward with a dark secret, who uses his social status as an educated, reliable person in society to carry out his murderous agenda. 

But these are horror or thriller pieces of art. Several times, the comedy genre has also made jibes at dentists as psychotic or money-hungry characters who like to hurt people. Jennifer Aniston’s character in the 2011 comedy movie Horrible Bosses comes to mind. She’s shown to be a sex-crazed boss who wants to abuse her position of power to demand sexual favours from her subordinate. The corrupt and greedy orthodontist from the beloved sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009-2015) is an excellent example of how a dentist exploits his position as a member of the city council to direct public funds his way and amplify his business. Who can forget the most intriguing interrogation of the wily and murderous dentist from the cop comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Season 5, Episode 14- The Box)? He is a cold-blooded killer with no remorse for his actions!

Real-life experiences

Reality is stranger than fiction. However over-the-top and dramatic these portrayals of dental professionals in popular media may be, there is also some truth to them. As dentists, we hear patients say that they never look forward to their dental appointments because they are unpleasant or costly, or both. People tend to postpone their dental appointments because of anticipatory pain or a bad experience in their formative years, which has left a bad impression on their psyche. The deep-seated belief that dentists are expensive or that patients are being overcharged is also valid to a certain extent. Finally, real-life examples of ‘evil dentists’ add significantly to the narrative.

A real-life evil dentist conspiracy that’s been cooking in Western pop culture is that of Dr. Connelly, DDS, the infamous dentist of the musician Kanye West. Dr Connelly has allegedly been supplying West with nitrous oxide (laughing gas), which has led to substance abuse issues for the musician. Some years ago, Dr Walter Palmer, a dentist from the USA, hunted down and killed the beloved Cecil, a lion in Zimbabwe. The incident garnered massive public outrage, and the culprit later admitted in a letter to his patients, expressing that the incident ‘disrupted our business and our ability to see our patients’. 

The 2008 case of Drs Nupur and Rajesh Talwar, the dentist couple who were convicted for the murder of their daughter, Aarushi and their house help, Hemraj, was widely reported by the Indian media for many years. Even though the couple were acquitted, to this day, public opinion of criminality still sways in their direction. One cannot help but link it to the evil dentist trope. Has it become easier to believe that dentists are evil or capital-hungry sadists thanks to this trope? It could be so, or it could be a far stretch. There’s reality, there’s fiction, and then there’s this opinion-fuelled simulation we’re all living in, called the ‘modern world’. However, regarding the Evil Dentist Trope, all we’re saying is, if we had a Rupee for each time a psychotic or evil character was a dentist in a movie or TV show, we’d have enough to have a kulfi from the kulfi-wale bhaiya during summertime. It’s not a lot, but it’s weird that it has happened those many times!

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References:

1. Finestresull’Arte: When the dentist is scary: dentistry in the art of the seventeenth century. Available from: https://www.finestresullarte.info/en/works-and-artists/when-the-dentist-is-scary-dentistry-in-the-art-of-the-seventeenth-century [Accessed on 6 May, 2025].
2. New York Post: Is your greedy dentist ripping you off with unnecessary visits? Available from: https://nypost.com/2019/04/22/is-your-greedy-dentist-ripping-you-off-with-unnecessary-visits/ [Accessed on 6 May, 2025].
3. The Hollywood Reporter: 6 Different Portrayals of Dentist Villains in Films. Available from: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cecil-lion-killer-walter-palmer-811910/ [Accessed on 6 May, 2025].

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