In yesterday’s episode there was a joke where one character called Dianne a dentist and she corrected her by saying she is an orthodontic surgeon. But in the pilot episode, they showed Dianne working in an ER.
Is this just an example of them tinkering with the characters and making changes? Or is it possible that an orthodontic surgeon would be on duty in an ER?
I disagree. A lot of good comedies work because of the ensemble of characters. When you try to split them up and give each character their own show, you end up with several weak shows instead of one strong one.
That said, I’d think ERs would often have situations involving needing something done very quickly with the mouth and teeth. Are there dentists who work in ERs or do regular doctors just do what they can to stabilize things and eventually you go elsewhere for the real dental work?
I actually considered both of these points. But the pilot scene in the ER took place at night and I figured that while and ER might have reason to call in an orthodontic surgeon they wouldn’t have one waiting on duty. Unless it was a situation where all surgeons did a rotation in the ER.
I also checked and confirmed that there is such a thing as an orthodontic surgeon. Apparently it’s a specialization within the field of oral surgery.
In retrospect, when I was checking on this point, I should have also checked that I remembered the line correctly.
True. But I thought it could also be a play on Dianne’s personality. Remember the speech she wrote to have Peter introduce her? She would call herself an orthodontic surgeon. But somebody like Meg would say, “You fix teeth? You’re a dentist.”
That said, I think Meg had the best line of the show, when she walked up on Kate and Peter listening to the couple in the office.
“You’re not in there?”
“I don’t think so but I’m pretty drunk.”