30 Questionable Posts From People Who Are "The 10th Dentist"

According to The 10th Dentist subreddit, the 10th dentist “is someone who sincerely, or professionally, disagrees with the broad majority of people.” This is the person who’ll eat the pizza crust and leave the rest of the slice for someone else. They love having long layovers and being forced to hang out in airports, and they believe that chocolate is disgusting. 

Now, it’s likely that we all have a few 10th dentist level opinions. I love weird food combinations as much as the next person, and I absolutely hate ketchup. So it’s not surprising that The 10th Dentist subreddit has become one of the largest on the platform, with over 257k members. We should all be able to voice that the Harry Potter films are overrated without fearing for our life! 

Now, when it comes to the name of this online community, it obviously stems from those advertisements making bold claims about toothpaste and other dental hygiene products. But why do companies always use this claim in their commercials? According to TV Tropes, it’s easy to misconstrue this claim with the idea that 90% of doctors or dentists actually agree with something. But that’s not necessarily the case.

What likely happened is that a trial with an extremely small sample size was carried out (perhaps literally only 10 dentists or doctors), and the company cherry picked information that sounded like it would benefit them. TV Tropes also notes that some liberties may have been taken with the company’s claims. “Did nine out of ten dentists really say that their brand of toothpaste was best, or did nine out of ten dentists just agree that toothpaste in general is a good idea?” the writers asked. 

No matter how cliche the idea of “9 out of 10 dentists” recommending something has become, it’s still used on company websites. You can find it on Sensodyne’s site recommending their toothpaste for sensitive teeth, and you’ll hear it in commercials all the time. 

But some companies have decided to be a bit more careful about their claims, as in 2007, Colgate found themselves under fire for their bold statement that 80% of dentists  recommend their toothpaste.  

According to Reuters, the Advertising Standards Authority came after Colgate for boldly claiming that 80% of dentists recommended their toothpaste. Apparently, dentists were given a survey where they could recommend several brands of toothpaste. And while 80% of them did recommend Colgate, they did not necessarily choose it over any other brands. They just considered it to be one valid option.     

Nowadays, it’s really easy to spend time in echo chambers online. We’re pushed similar content to what we engage with and click like on, and we tend to follow pages that share beliefs that we agree with. But sometimes, it’s healthy to be introduced to ideas and opinions that are different from our own. That’s why The 10th Dentist subreddit can be such a great place! You might fervently disagree with many of the photos and opinions you see shared there, but they’re still opening up your mind to new ideas. 

According to Maryville University, hearing different perspectives is important for expanding a person’s thinking, helping people develop empathy, increasing inclusion and equity, reducing biases and increasing creativity. You might see a food combination that you would have never thought of recommended by a 10th dentist, and your initial reaction might be that it must be disgusting. But maybe it’s not so bad! Keep an open mind, and don’t judge those 10th dentists.