If there's anything that can inspire a good story, it's a trip to the dentist. With flavored tooth paste, whirring power tools and laughing gas, it would be hard not to have a memorable tale from the dentist's chair.
In this month's MashableReads book selection, Joshua Ferris' To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, readers follow Paul O'Rourke, a dentist who has his identity stolen. As Paul grapples with social media and struggles to reclaim his online identity, he quickly begins to lose touch with reality and his dentist practice.
[seealso slug="mashablereads-twitter-plot-twist"]
Inspired by Paul's dentist stories, we asked readers to submit their own dentist-themed tales for our MashableReads Twitter short-story challenge. Submissions were both terrifying and hilarious, as readers explored everything from what it's like for a clown to go to the dentist to the horrors of anesthesia. Check out some of our favorites, below:
Winners
Gumbo the clown understood the irony of laughing gas being prepared but if his dentist wanted chuckles he had big shoes to fill. #MashReads— Dustin Batt (@dustinbatt) June 6, 2014
#MashReads Odontologist Giacomo Pastutti admitted before the judge he didn’t use anesthesia with his patients; he preferred them al dente.— Gòmez de la Sorna (@odradek1) June 8, 2014
She had no real interest in teeth. But no one ignored her at the dentist’s office. One by one, they all listened, gaping quietly. #MashReads— Ship's Short Stories (@ShipTale) June 5, 2014
I woke up to the rank smell of bubblegum, and blood. I could only be in one place. My insurance company couldn't save me now. #MashReads— Joey Pedras (@JoeyPedras) June 5, 2014
Count backwards, he said. 100...99...98... wow, can I get some of this stuff to take home? And then the wisdom teeth were gone. #MashReads— Grey James (@GreyRot) June 5, 2014
Runners-up
#MashReads And there I was, in the only place where I'd let a stranger to put his hand inside my mouth, without even buying me a drink first— Adriana Ricci (@Adri_Ricci) June 5, 2014
I remember when tonsil removal was a huge fad, I kept begging my parents so I could eat copious amounts of ice cream w/o regrets #mashreads— Julia Benitez (@heyitsjuliebee) June 5, 2014
#mashreads "Dentists no longer need identity "said his Ma. Business is finished. Trend now is JUICING and no one needs floss or a dentist— viju james (@vijujames) June 20, 2014
BONUS: Joshua Ferris in Conversation with MashableReads