''Dentally Disturbed'' is an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

written by Cameron Mitchell and

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

Craig Melville Craig James Melville is an Australian television comedy director. He is best known for his collaborations with comedians John Safran, Lawrence Leung and The Chaser. Filmography Television * ''Maximum Choppage'' Series Director (2015) * ''Th ...

and Cameron Mitchell. It first aired on SBS in Australia on 24 December 2004.

Plot

The film begins with Ed ( Ben Anderson) shopping in the supermarket with his wife, Gina (Kate Gorman). Ed searches the shelves for

dental floss Dental floss is a cord of thin filaments used in interdental cleaning to remove food and dental plaque from between teeth or places a toothbrush has difficulty reaching or is unable to reach. Its regular use as part of oral cleaning is designed t ...

, but can't find any. Both Gina and a supermarket employee seem to have never heard of it before: "You mean, toothpicks?" Ed asks his friends, his dentist, Google, and even the local radio station, all of them confused as to the origin of the product and as to why toothpicks would not suffice. Finally, Ed proposes the idea of dental floss to

Oral-B Oral-B is an American brand of oral hygiene products, including toothpastes, toothbrushes, electric toothbrushes, and mouthwashes. The brand has been in business since the invention of the Hutson toothbrush in 1950 and in Redwood City, Californ ...

. The CEO rejects it, saying "The wheel's already been invented, mate!" The CEO too, has never heard of it. In desperation, Ed purchases some candles, which he begins to strip down in order to use the wax-covered string inside as dental floss. Gina, sensing his maddening fight with this problem, convinces Ed to move on. As she does this, however, she is searching frantically through her bag to find her

tampon A tampon is a feminine hygiene, menstrual product designed to absorb blood and vaginal secretions by insertion into the vagina during menstruation. Unlike a Sanitary napkin, pad, it is placed internally, inside of the vaginal canal. Once inser ...

s. Confused, Ed asks, "What the hell are tampons?"

Cast

The film features only four main actors, who have all featured in their own television shows. * Ben Anderson as Ed *

Damian Callinan Damian Callinan is an actor/comedian from Melbourne, Australia. Entertainment career Callinan has performed in many mediums, including TV, film, radio and live stand-up. He came to national prominence in 2003 as an actor in the Australian sket ...

as Market Employee
Kate Gorman
as Gina *

John Safran , citizenship = , education = , occupation = DocumentarianJournalistRadio presenterAuthor , years_active = 1997 – present , known_for = ''John Safran's Music Jamboree'' ''John Safran vs God'' ''Race ...

as Radio DJ Ben Anderson and Damian Callinan are both regular characters on the Australian comedy

skitHOUSE ''Skithouse'' (styled ''skitHOUSE'') was an Australian sketch comedy television series that ran on Network Ten from 9 February 2003 to 28 July 2004. The series was produced by Roving Enterprises. It featured many well-known Australian comedians, ...

. John Safran, who portrays himself, featured on

John Safran vs God ''John Safran vs God'' is an eight-part television documentary series by John Safran which was broadcast on SBS TV of Australia in 2004. It has been described in a media release as "John Safran's most audacious project yet". It had a much more ...

, and Kate Gorman acted i
You and Your Stupid Mate

Critical acclaim

The National Flossing Council: "Dentally Disturbed" is "a funny, thought provoking story"

Festivals and awards

*2005 Flickerfest International Short Film Festival. Winner, "SBS Eastcarpet Award" *2005 Portland International Short Film Festival. Winner, "Audience choice award"
, "PISS FEST 2005 screening details". Retrieved 10-23-2008 *2005 Down Under Film Festival. Winner, "Best Australian Short Comedy" *2005 Sony Tropfest. Winner, "Best of the Rest competition"flickerfest.com.au
, Flickerfest Distribution Catalogue, retrieved 10-24-2008 *2005 London Rushes Soho Short Film Festival. Runner-up for "Best Newcomer". *

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

In-flight Entertainment programme, Licensing deal *Angry Film Festival, Runner Up

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0760234
Craig Melville's Official website
2004 films Australian comedy short films 2000s English-language films