''David After Dentist'' is an
Internet phenomenon
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
which started when David DeVore Jr.'s father posted a video on the Internet of his reaction to
anesthesia
Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), ...
after he had been given
oral surgery. , it has been viewed 141 million times on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
.
Video origins and publication
In May 2008, 7-year-old David DeVore Jr. was taken to the dentist to have an extra tooth removed, due to a hereditary condition called
hyperdontia
Hyperdontia is the condition of having supernumerary teeth, or teeth that appear in addition to the regular number of teeth (32 in the average adult). They can appear in any area of the dental arch and can affect any dental organ. The opposite ...
. Because this was David's first surgery and his mother could not be there, his father decided to videotape the experience to share with her and their family.
After the surgery, David was feeling confused from the
anaesthesia
Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), am ...
he was given. While in the car, he was asking his father questions like "Is this real life?" and "Is this going to be forever?" and also telling him that he had two fingers. At one point, he famously attempted to push himself up from his seat (while still buckled in) and began screaming before sinking back in exhaustion.
Seven months later, David's father uploaded the video on
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
. Being overwhelmed with people wanting to see the video, he decided to upload it to YouTube, but did not notice there was a private option. Just 3 days after the upload, it had been seen over 3 million times.
The DeVore family were soon made YouTube Partners. This gives YouTube the right to run ads over the videos they post, and in exchange, are given a share of the revenue. They also sell "David After Dentist" T-shirts and donate a portion of the revenue they earn to dental
charities
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a cha ...
.
[The Story of David After Dentist]
/ref>
In May 2021, the DeVore family created an auction for a "David After Dentist" NFT
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...
, with the profits going toward David and his brother's college tuitions. The NFT sold for around $13,500.
In the media
*The DeVore family appeared on the ''Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...
'', ''Tyra Banks Show
''The Tyra Banks Show'', also known as and shortened to ''Tyra'' or ''The Tyra Show'', was an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks that aired from 2005 to 2010.
While Banks's show covered a variety of topics, there was a sensationalized focus ...
'' and ''The O'Reilly Factor
''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...
'' to discuss the video.
*"David After Dentist" was referenced on ''My Name is Earl
''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Jaso ...
'' in May 2009.
*It was included in a question on the UK's The Big Fat Quiz of the Year
''The Big Fat Quiz of the Year'' is an approximately annual British television programme broadcast in the last or first week of the year on Channel 4. The show is a comedy panel game in the style of a pub quiz. Three teams of two celebrities, mo ...
2009 for Channel Four
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service i ...
.
*In January 2010, the DeVores appeared on the season 2 premier of ''Tosh.0
''Tosh.0'' ( ) is an American television series that aired on Comedy Central from June 4, 2009, to November 24, 2020. The series is hosted and produced by comedian Daniel Tosh, who provides satirical commentary on online viral video clips, inter ...
''.
*In episode 19 of the 1st season of ''The Cleveland Show
''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cleveland Brown, his new wife Donna Tubbs, a ...
'', the 5 year old character Rallo says "What's happening? Is this real life? Is this gonna be forever?" referring to the video
*Tv Spain'' El Hormiguero
''El Hormiguero'' (, Spanish for "The Anthill") is a Spanish television program with a live audience focusing on comedy, science, and guest interviews running since September 2006. It is hosted and produced by screenwriter Pablo Motos. The show ...
'', which aired on April 27, 2010.
*As part of a series parodying viral videos, ''The Annoying Orange
''Annoying Orange'' is an American live-action/animated comedy web series created by Dane Boedigheimer (known online as DaneBoe). The series follows an anthropomorphic orange who annoys fruits, vegetables, and various other objects by telling ...
'' web series featured a parody of "David After Dentist" as its first parody. The main plot difference is that Orange has gotten his teeth whitened instead of having had a tooth removed.
*The video is referenced in an episode of ''Good Luck Charlie
''Good Luck Charlie'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on Disney Channel from April 4, 2010, to February 16, 2014. The series' creators, Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, wanted to create a program that would appeal to entire families, no ...
'', when PJ, having been given anesthesia at the dentist's office, sits in the lobby acting loopy and saying, among other confused statements, "Is this real life?".
*A red shirted version of David has a brief animated cameo in ''Regular Show
''Regular Show'' (known as ''Regular Show in Space'' during its eighth season) is an American animated sitcom created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 6, 2010, to January 16, 2017, over the course of eight seasons a ...
'' episode "Go Viral".
*During a skit 'Dancing with Internet Stars' ''So Random
''So Random!'' is an American Disney Channel sketch comedy series that premiered on June 5, 2011. It was announced as an independent series after Demi Lovato left the parent series, ''Sonny with a Chance''. The series features the actors who a ...
'' made a reference to David After Dentist with actor Doug Brochu
Douglas Mark Brochu (born September 29, 1990) is an American actor, comedian and producer. He is best known as Grady Mitchell in the Disney Channel Original Series, ''Sonny with a Chance'' and ''So Random!''. Doug has an older brother, Chris Br ...
pretending to be him and acting as he did in the video making similar comments.
*Comedic actor Brandon Hardesty
Brandon Allan Hardesty (born April 13, 1987) is an American comedic performer and actor. Hardesty posts original comedy videos as well as "uncanny" recreations of scenes from movies, playing every part himself. The ''Village Voice'' writer Julian ...
created a parody where he played the part of David, but acted in a serious manner as though he were in a drama.
*On ''The Simpsons'' episode "A Tree Grows in Springfield
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
", when Homer sees his broken Mypad, Homer says he wanted to "see the kid knocked up on dentist gas". Then the video plays for a second before the Mypad then breaks.
*The video is mentioned in the show ''New Girl
''New Girl'' is an American television sitcom created by Elizabeth Meriwether and produced by 20th Television for Fox that originally aired from September 20, 2011, to May 15, 2018. The series revolves around a kooky teacher, Jessica Day (Zooey ...
'', in the fourth episode of season 1, which aired November 2011. The character Winston is catching up on the two years of American history he missed while living in Latvia. It is the last video he has to watch along with ''The King's Speech'', ''The Human Centipede'' and ''Precious''.
* The Pocket God episode Dance Dance Execution when the pygmies
In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...
blow on the balloons they sound like David went to the dentist.
Criticism
David DeVore Sr. has received criticism for exploiting his son. DeVore has stated that he appreciates the concern, but feels that it was innocent and has been a very positive experience for his family.[
]
Medical explanation
In the video, David states that he sees four fingers when looking at his two pointer fingers. He later adds, "I don't see anything", after which he tells his father: "you have four eyes". David may have been experiencing blurred and double vision, which are common side-effects of dental anaesthesia. In the medical literature, several ocular complications such as diplopia (blurred and double vision) and dizziness have been reported as a consequence of improperly administered local intraoral anaesthesia. It is estimated that ophthalmologic complications occur in approximately 1 in 1,000 local intraoral anesthetic injections; the majority of documented symptomatic responses arise within 5 minutes and may last for several minutes to hours.
References
External links
*
*{{imdbtitle, 10392232
Viral videos
2009 YouTube videos
Internet memes introduced in 2009