My son's orthodontist asked me if I could come up with a few dental related magic tricks for his staff to perform for patients as they are sitting in the dental chair waiting to be seen by the orthodontist. Obviously, the tricks have to be easy to perform. I've come up with a few mental type effects for the older kids, and a few body part (fingers, arms) tricks for younger kids. Anyone have suggestions for more dental related tricks? Thanks.

Mk-
I know that Goshman sells foam/sponge teeth. You can see them here: http://www.magicproshop.com/foam-teeth-f......414.html You could possibly teach the staff at the office a couple of easy sleights to use with the teeth for producing, vanishing, switiching them, etc.
-Michael

Good idea with the sponge teeth. I already ordered some.

Any ideas for magic with latex gloves (keep it clean, please)?

At Wild Magic, Tom and Rachel have an effect you do with Dental floss.

It's in their lecture notes, Kiddies to Corporate.

http://www.wild-magic.net/cgi-bin/web_st......rt_id=%s

Dime penetration effect.

First bought it at Tannen's in New York in the early 1970s.


The dime actually looks as though it penetrates through a square of clear rubber latex (the kind used in Dentist's office).

Solid thru solid...

Dime thru latex "squares" is a great close-up illusion. Prior to performance, push a dime firmly (but gently into the center of a 6 inch by six inch sqaure of latex so that the dime literally "sits" on top of the rubber surface, giving the illusion that it is "on top" when in reality it is covered by a thin layer of clear rubber. Then stretch this square of rubber with the dime "on top" over the open mouth of a glass tumbler. Next, fix the square of rubber into position over the mouth of the glass with a rubber band around the circumference.

At this point the dime still appears as if it is simply sitting on top of the rubber surface.

Press down ont the top of the dime with your index finger and ..."plink!,"

The dime falls into the cup... quite "magical" for those not in-the-know.

The trick is in the set-up. You need to be careful not to push the dime upwards into the rubber too hard, otherwise the rubber will break. It may take a few times before you get the knack of it, but it's certainly worth the time and effort.

Good luck!

Let us know how it goes.


Jonathan

On the side, I handle the business and financial side of a friend's orthodontic practice. Over the years, I've adapted over 40 dental-related easy-to-complex magic effects for his staff, including a few of my best and favorite bits:

Tel's Bell - Only rings when a patient has excellent hygiene. Kids ALWAYS ask for the bell test as soon as they sit in the chair. Each clinician has one and you can see the pride on the children's faces when the bell rings... and the disappointment when it doesn't. This encourages them to work harder for the next visit.

Change bag with healthy smile/unhealthy smile silks - great for reinforcing hygiene.

Magic Coloring Book featuring hygiene tips, ortho rules and positive-reinforcement pictures - with an identical ungimmicked version for patents to take home.

Zanadu Visual Coloring with B&W crooked smile changing to a colorful brilliant smile.

Mini Strat-O-Sphere with white balls (healthy teeth) and one mischievous black ball (cavity). Reinforces hygiene instructions.

National Orthodontic Health Month and National Magic Week both occur in October...so October is "The Magic of our Smile" month with magic set give-a-ways, contests, an annual patient talent show and the like.

Also check with T. Myers. He has an excellent book on creating balloon characters with surgical gloves.

I have tons more...but, as I sit here writing I'm thinking..."You know, Skip...this would make a GREAT set of lecture notes and a killer article for the October issue of The Funny Paper. Do you really want to just give it all away?"

And I answered...."Nope!"

:o) Skip

2 in the hand, one in the pocket with teeth?

PSIncerely Yours,
Paul Alberstat

Silver to gold transposition, using nuggets of gold/silver fillings and employing the Bobo switch principal...

It's called a rubber dam and yes, it works just as you specified above.



I have no contribution material-wise but can offer a suggestion that'll make visitors like me happy. Remind the ortho that his patients are not terribly excited about being there and prolonging their stay with tricks doesn't work. Skip the tricks and see me as quickly as possible. Do what has to be done as quickly and painlessly as possible and let me get the hell out!

I love magic more than all his patients combined and fear the dentist/orthodontist even more.

Tell him if he or his staff is looking to entertain patients, he has too many chairs going at once (we have a greedy orthodontist in the family who'll get 5 dental chairs going at once) or get a new receptionist to schedule. I wore braces as a kid and didn't enjoy a bit of it. Chair-side tricks would have made me worry. Fast and painless = great trick!


As a kid I would have loved being asked by one of the staff, "wanna see a trick?!"

I would have said, "no, but I've got one waiting for me outside if you'd just do your job so I can get the hell out of here."

You think that's bad, what about the dentist and staff who add 'tricks' to the torturous visit for the already worked-up patient?

Randy...your view is not uncommon...but, it is far from the norm for an orthodontic office. Across the country orthodontic conventions are focusing on making each visit a fun adventure worth looking forward to. The day the kids get their braces on is a celebration. Each milestone through the treatment is celebrated with song and confetti. We host contests with great prizes through the year. Getting the braces off... well, you'd think it was someone's birthday with all the fuss we make. We sing, we deliver a water bottle filled with brace-taboo candy and treats topped with helium balloons, we take smiley photos for the bulletin board... it's a long-deserved and awaited celebration. The birth of a brand new smile!

Does it work? Well, our business is roughly 80% referral. When we started ten years ago we had costly television, radio and newspaper ads. We did direct mail campaigns. Today, we still have a basic newspaper and yellow page ad. Over 80% of our new patients are come from satisfied patients and their families. If the majority of our patients felt as you do our referral and kept appointment rates would be in the toilet.

Don't judge the world by your own cover. The key to customer satisfcation is to discover what the customer likes best and provide it...not to force what you like down their throats.

Skip

I am not sure if I like the idea of professionals in other fields learning magic tricks to entertain customers since it lessens the art form, IMO - and as mentioned above: I do not go to the dentist to see a sponge rabbit routine, just as I do not offer to clean people's teeth or shine shoes or whatever while I am doing magic. I don't mind actual magicians adapting tricks to suit their audiences - trade show magicians have been doing this for years. If the magician is ALSO a dentist/orthodontist then that is one thing (or if a dentist wants to keep a magician on staff), but teaching the dental assistant some magic tricks to entertain the kiddies while they wait leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I sure hope that this practice does not spread to other professions - I do not want my auto mechanic trying to dazzle me with a linking ring routine while I wait to have my oil changed.

Wow Skip! Looks like that field is coming along nicely with great consideration for the young and anxiety-ridden patient. I have to agree it sounds like a good thing for those involved - sure, why not?

This is particularly important for the next generation of patients in that chair. The dentist, not my later orthodontist, but the dentist I saw as a child specialized in working with kids.

I'll refrain from mentioning his name here but the "expert" with children ended up serving a three year sentence in state penitentiary and loss of license for physical abuse against children to include bruising of their arms while being restrained and slaps across their faces. On my last visit to his wonderful office with beautifully painted animals on the walls and candy at the counter, I didn't dare make a sound or move when he got near me as I had just heard him in the dental chair 'cubicle' next to mine saying, "Shut up! Shut up!" to a crying child. Apparently he was caught on bad days more often than not.

How's that for a first and lasting impression of such professionals, Skip? Now as an adult, I know I won't encounter such treatment and really don't carry that experience to the degree that it keeps me from going to the dentist. I just to this day prefer to get the beneficial visits over with as soon as possible. I'm not forcing my judgement on anyone. I'm telling you what I want. My last visit was to a dentist in the Turtle Creek area in Dallas and he was a treat. Did the cleaning and treated my teeth. In and out of there in a very reasonable amount of time. My wait time in reception area less than five minutes and no tricks. That works for me and I'll keep him.

Skip, if anything, that negative experience as a child caused me to REALLY TAKE CARE OF MY TEETH! HAHAHAHAHAHA!...Oh boy! That's funny but true! Hahahaha.

I'd be more interested in such professionals who can surround themselves with a staff who knows how to responsibly and safely control the child. Maybe we can save some of those kids from protesting good tricks as I do. Maybe you understand now why I saw the sponge rabbits as a horrible negative considering it may prolong my stay. Hehehe. When you're counting the seconds to get it over with and dart out the door, the last thing you want to hear is "Pick a card"....

If said tricks help, then I'm all for it.

This type of closed-minded thinking does more to harm the art than promote it. Art, any art, is meant to be enjoyed. Art, by its nature, is participatory... interactive. I teach magic to police officers, EMT's, firemen, nurses, doctors, car salesmen, realtors, teachers...everyone and anyone with an interest in eliciting a spark from the eye of a child or a bit of awe from another adult. The art of magic is not meant to be hidden under a cloak of secrecy and privacy. There will always be the expert and professional practitioners...the Maestri. A police officer with a set of sponge rabbits is never going to pose a threat to David Copperfield. There will also be the enthusiasts, the hobbyists and those who use it to make a point, create a bond or soothe a bit of distress and fear. I, too, am not interested in watching my mechanic display his skill with linking rings... but my daughters might enjoy having a ball pulled from her ear or a sponge ball appear magically in her hand. And the mechanic, if he's a good one, will have my loyalty for catering to my children as well as my car. It's business... get over it.

This petty "Magic is MY art...go find your own" mentality is ridiculous. Grow up.

I think there are two opposing situations being envisioned here. What's being promoted is not magic in the reception area, but rather magic "in the back" where the patient has to wait in between being seen by a clinician/hygienist and the real "Doc." That waiting time can be long, and boring, as there tends to be at least 5 clinicans working with only one orthodontist.

As somone who had one gizmo or another in his mouth from age 5-17, I've spent a lot of time sitting in the chair just waiting. If someone wants to perform magic while there's nothing to do but wait, go for it.

In a reception area, where you'll mostly find families waiting while the patient is seen, or patients waiting for their initial call back, there are usually magazines and books, and an increaing number of TVs playing Disney movies. If a dentist or orthodontist wanted to hire a magician to work that area, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but it doesn't seem to be too practical.

Kevin

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On 2006-04-19 22:17, jlevey wrote:
Dime penetration effect.
The dime actually looks as though it penetrates through a square of clear rubber latex (the kind used in Dentist's office).

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Randy Stewart wrote:

It's called a rubber dam and yes, it works just as you specified above.
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"Dam"...Why didn't I know that?!!!

Thanks Randy.

Jonthan

I never said "Magic is MY art...go find your own" so please don't quote me as if I had, and I never said anything to imply that is how I feel, either.

The biggest disservice that anyone can do to the art of magic is to perform it poorly, and I find it hard to believe that dental hygienists spend their off time polishing up their magic act.

However you can market yourself is great, and it sounds as if your magic business is thriving, so more power to you for that.

The first ideas that come to mind are:

Gypsy thread with dental floss

Disappearing hanky to show what will happen if you neglect your teeth.

Hope this helps

MK,

You could call your program..."Dental Mental"...

By teaching the importance of carrying out healthy oral hygeine, and using Mental Magic effects as the vehicle to illustrate your message(s), Dental Mental programs would be "anything but"... "Detrimental".

Good luck!

PS: I should point out that the above program title, "Dental Mental(TM), was suggested in pure jest.

I realize this is a serious and thoughtful discussion thread, and encourage subsequent posters to help put this discussion back on track.

Many thanks.

Jonathan

Just this past week I took a collection of my dental-designed pocket tricks to a local pediodontist (children's dental specialist) for a field test. He and the staff loved the ideas and felt that they worked well in relaxing a nervous child with laughter and trust. As the doctor pointed out: If the tooth fairy is magical and the dentist is magical...how bad can it be?

In hindsight, I don't think the magic has as great a potential chairside as it will at family health fairs...trade show style events where dentists and orthodontists will often set up displays. Having a staffer who can attract the kids with a series of simple, dental-oriented magic tricks can make the difference of a family consulting with your practice or the competitor down the aisle. While many parents are looking at the finance side of ortho, they are also listening for their child to say "I like this doctor"...which means they are more likely to respect and follow his or her advice.

Also, word of mouth is very important to any business...and especially so to the orthodontist. Having a child talking about the magic trick "my orthodontist did yesterday" makes the doctor's name familiar and when the issue comes up the second child is likely to suggest "I want to go to Jimmy's dentist!"

So, magic isn't a cure-all or magic business-building gimmick...but it could be used as one more available viable tool for relaxing kids and drawing new patients...the lifeblood of any practice. David Copperfield apparently thinks so with his Project Magic. We're in good company.