A good reason to brush your teeth – from the American Dental Association

I may have mentioned in the past that, as a young child, I spent summers at my Grandma Betty’s house in Boston, essentially getting a three-month reprieve from my parents and that toxic family situation.  Living in Boston meant that I could watch TV on special non-network channels like WKBG 56 and WSBK 38, both of which would show cartoons and kid shows in the afternoon and reruns of classic TV shows at night.  Fun stuff.

And I remember that during many of the TV shows on those stations, I would see animated public service announcements from the American Dental Association.  Yep, even back then the ADA was making damn sure that us kids knew the benefits of brushing and flossing and taking care of our teeth.  Well, at least I hope they were making damn sure.

So for today’s blog post, I felt like doing a nice little dive back into those classic American Dental Association public service announcements.  They’re kitschy, but the animation style is quite fluid for early 1970’s TV cartoons.  You might enjoy.

Let’s start off with one for family dental care.  No, I’m not talking insurance – I’m talking about home care.  You’ll see.  Maybe by laying off those between-meal snackies…

And here’s a clip from a guy named Handsome Harry … who can play three sports and has girl-drawing power … until he smiles.  And therein lies the rub.

This one is based on the old TV show Hollywood Squares, where the host does his best Peter Marshall impersonation when asking questions of someone doing their best Paul Lynde imitation.

And if you lose a tooth, do you get a visit from the tooth fairy?  Well, maybe … but the ADA postulates you might get a visit instead from the tooth chicken.  Who kinda looks like Foghorn Leghorn … but sounds more like Jackie Mason.

Apparently the Tooth Chicken was popular enough that the ADA kept bringing him back for more dental commercials and the assorted schtick therein.

Sometimes with teeth, you need a superhero to inspire you.  Or at least to show you how to properly floss your teeth.  How to enter an exit a building … not so much.

Apparently the American Dental Association made dozens of these commercials over the years … and, on occasion, even brought in celebrity cartoon guests to contribute to the message – like, for example, Casper the Friendly Ghost.

I might do more of these kitschy commercial roundups in the future … if for no other reason than they were fun to watch, and it’s kinda heartwarming to see these old ads one more time.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to brush and floss your teeth.  That way, when you get as old as me, you don’t have to worry about things like root canals and cavities and deciding whether you want your teeth whitened or bleached or painted with Liquid Paper for that dazzling smile.  😀