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Japan’s zoftig hygienists keep dental patients coming back for tender, rubbing care

Shukan Taishu Aug. 6
Shukan Taishu Aug. 6
“I was so shocked, my jaw was hanging in astonishment. After all, I am a dental hygienist.”

So says Hiromi, a 24-year-old native of Shizuoka Prefecture, who, after graduating from an occupational training school, sought work in a Tokyo dental clinic as a hygienist.

“The head doctor’s a real slimeball, he only hires cute women in order to attract patients,” she reveals to Shukan Taishu (Aug. 6).

Hiromi and three cute colleagues at the clinic filled out their tight, white uniforms, which in addition to exposing cleavage are also designed to show lots of leg.

“The clinic attracts salarymen working in the area,” she says. “We were told the uniform went with the job.”

About three months after she was hired, Hiromi was told by the doctor to emulate an older assistant named Megumi. While the sensei was filling a patient’s cavity, Megumi would lean up against their shoulder, giving them a generous feel of her substantial mammaries.

So good was her service that the patients were in the practice of requesting Megumi by name when they phoned for an appointment.

“Well then, I’ll give the patients an oppai (tittie) rub, the way Megumi does,” Hiromi informed her employer, who nodded in approval.

“Please do understand that in this business, times are hard, and that’s what we’ve got to do if we want to eat,” he explained. “If you emulate Megumi, patients will be able to disregard their pain, and want to come back again, you see? It’s a good form of communication beween the hygienist and the patients. And they’ll come back for more expensive treatments that aren’t covered by their health insurance.”

Actually Megumi was extremely talented in persuading patients for such elective services, cooing softly into their ear as she motherly nudged them, saying things like, “Rather than a silver crown, which will make you look older, a ceramic one will be much more attractive.”

But then something happened that discouraged Hiromi from working at that particular clinic.

It seems that while removing tar stains from the teeth of a middle-aged patient, he began returning the skinship, using his shoulder.

“He also began licking my finger while it was in his mouth,” she complained.

No longer able to restrain himself, the patient shifted to a full manual assault on her breasts, to which she loudly voiced her objections.

The head of the clinic, seeing that the patient was a good customer, told Hiromi to grin and bear it, and she resigned in a huff.

“The market for dental clinics in Tokyo is saturated, with more clinics than convenience stores. The situation has become severe,” says 26-year-old physician Mariko Yamashita. “What’s more, other businesses have been draining off dental patients, such as cosmetic surgeons who perform implants and estheticians who can do tooth whitening.”

In the past, dentists were once one of Japan’s “big three” most profitable operations, along with pachinko shops and obstetricians. But those days are gone for good.

“Patients who used to go running to their dentist whenever they felt a twinge of pain now refrain, or else only request work that is covered by their health insurance,” journalist Junji Maki tells Shukan Taishu. “That’s why I suppose clinics have become increasingly aggressive in efforts to attract more patients.”

A recent white paper on dental care reported that dentists need to treat 20 patients per day to break even, and that one dentist in five earns less than three million yen per year — less than the average cab driver.

Under such circumstances, the article concludes the emergence of doctors who expect hygienists to perform “breast massages” on patients may be a harbinger of a coming collapse in the dental profession. (K.S.)

Source: “Bijin shika eiseishi ga kokuhatsu! Shika iin no oppai eigyo gyoten jittai,” Shukan Taishu (August 6, page 190)