Taking responsibility for the tooth: A semiotic and thematic analysis of oral health and disease in the TV show ‘Embarrassing Bodies’

Abstract

Oral health and dentistry are seldom the subject of medical reality TV. This study investigates whether the dental segments within the British medical reality show, ‘Embarrassing Bodies’, may contribute to the anthropological understanding of oral health and social status, through semiotic and thematic analysis. This methodology involves close examination of both the visual and narrative themes within the programme. The show presents mouths afflicted by oral disease as traumascapes, the framing of which provides voyeuristic appeal. The portrayal of dental disease as negatively affecting human flourishing through shame and the inhibition of intimacy was common across the analysed cases. The key themes of intimacy and social distance; discipline, blame and personal responsibility; carnography; disciplining gaze and authority; and redemption and rebirth were identified through analysis. The cases also present a strong correlation between a lack of personal responsibility and the development of dental disease within the wider context of social class, with the dentist as a disciplining authority, enforcing professional and societal norms.