Flossing
Explanation
The Joke
In this comic, a character has come up with a novel way to lie to their dentist (or other medical caregiver) about flossing. The alt text — "I'm amazed nobody else has come up with this way to lie to medical caregivers" — reveals the core joke: the comic presents some creative or elaborate scheme to deceive a dentist about one's flossing habits.
The universal experience being satirized here is the dental visit ritual where the dentist asks "Have you been flossing?" and the patient lies, saying "Yes, of course," despite both parties knowing full well the truth. The comic likely takes this common white lie and escalates it — perhaps showing a character who has developed an absurdly sophisticated system for faking the effects of regular flossing, or who approaches the deception with the seriousness of a heist movie.
The Humor
The comedy works because lying to the dentist about flossing is one of the most universal human experiences. Studies have shown that a significant percentage of dental patients admit to lying about their oral hygiene habits. The dentist always knows — gums don't lie — but the social ritual persists anyway. By having a character treat this trivial deception as a genuine innovation ("I'm amazed nobody else has come up with this"), the comic elevates a mundane social lie to the level of an intellectual breakthrough.
The alt text's use of the broader term "medical caregivers" rather than just "dentist" suggests the comic might extend the concept beyond dentistry — applying the same deceptive creativity to other medical questions patients routinely lie about (exercise habits, alcohol consumption, diet, etc.).
References
- Patient dishonesty in healthcare: Research consistently shows that patients frequently lie to their doctors about health behaviors. A 2018 survey found that up to 80% of patients have withheld information from their doctors, with lifestyle habits being the most common area of deception.
- The dentist-flossing social contract: The unspoken agreement between dentists and patients where both parties participate in the fiction that the patient flosses regularly, despite clinical evidence to the contrary.