I just got back from taking my son to the dentist, and for the hundredth time, I wondered who on earth makes all of the "dental art" you see in dentist offices across America. You know what I'm taking about: the piece of stained glass in the shape of a molar; the needle-pointed smiling mouth; the dentist figurine holding a little sign that reads, "I was dentist of the year and all I got was a little plaque."
I have been in a dozen dentists' -- and orthodontists' -- offices, and every single one of them has some sort of "dental art." What makes it slightly perplexing is that I know hundreds of artists, and have never heard of one who specializes, or even dabbles, in tooth art. Nor have I ever seen any of these anti-cavity crafts for sale at a craft show.
It must be friends and family members of the dentists who make this stuff, but for all I know, there's a huge dental art movement going on, and I'm the last to know.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
