49 pages • 1 hour read
David WalliamsDemon Dentist
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Benefits of Teamwork in Facing Danger
Content Warning: This section includes discussion of parent illness and death.
To keep others safe from harm, Alfie chooses to face danger alone; for example, he waits up for the tooth snatcher in his bedroom on his own, and he independently scales the elevator cable into the dark mine. Each time, Alfie tries to handle danger alone. However, he learns that assistance from allies brings greater success. Despite Alfie’s caring intentions, the story’s events show that teamwork is more effective in times of peril.
Alfie does not have friends at school before the story begins, but he and Gabz develop a friendship after Miss Root’s school visit. Raj has been Alfie’s friend for longer; he is a kind adult who supplies Alfie and Dad with treats from the newsstand. Both Gabz and Raj, as friends to Alfie, demonstrate that teamwork is beneficial when facing an adversary. Raj joins Alfie on the night when Alfie waits for the tooth snatcher, and though Raj displays fear, Alfie is glad to have his support—especially upon finding the eyeball. Gabz is a supportive friend (despite her occasional sarcasm) in that she shares Alfie’s desire to identify and confront the tooth snatcher. Most significantly, Gabz saves Alfie from falling into the toothpaste cauldron near the climax of the book. Raj and Gabz show that friends offer support and security when facing danger.
Winnie also steps up to join Alfie’s efforts. Though she initially laughs at Alfie’s idea that Miss Root is a witch, she is determined to help him save Gabz once Alfie shows her his toothless mouth. Winnie joining Alfie’s team against Miss Root is imperative to Alfie’s confrontation with the witch since Winnie’s moped and driving skills get Alfie to the mine before the last trace of the witch disappears. Winnie also serves as a team member by calling Dad for help. Winnie shows that teamwork may appear in unlikely places, but this makes help from those on one’s team no less valuable.
Winnie’s help comes as a surprise to Alfie, but he is even more surprised when Dad joins the fight against the witch. Dad quickly proves himself to be an invaluable team member when he uses the elevator and the train to transport himself to the witch’s lair. His skills, knowledge, tenacity, and courage save Alfie and Gabz, and his self-sacrifice keeps the town safe by destroying the witch. Like Winnie, Raj, and Gabz, Dad jumps at the chance to help Alfie and shows the benefits of teamwork in facing danger.
Confronting Adversity Versus Running Away
Alfie’s fear of dental procedures, suspicion of Miss Root, and distress over Winnie’s involvement in his home life combine into a significant conflict early in the story: Winnie plans to take him to Miss Root for a dentist appointment. Considering how he changes once this plan is set in motion, Alfie’s character arc and coming of age are especially notable once he foregoes the idea of escaping his problems and instead opts to face them.
Though Alfie initially creates a series of elaborate plans to avoid this dentist trip, he eventually settles on a simple escape strategy: He will hide in the school and then leave with the crowd of students at regular dismissal. Running away within the school does not work, however; all the doors to hiding spaces, like cabinets, are locked. Instead of confronting Winnie with his concerns, he runs from her, first inside the school and then into the town, accruing a mass following as he goes. The size of this crowd symbolically represents the futility of running away; Alfie fails to avoid Miss Root and ironically steps right into her office once Winnie and the crowd pin him. The loss of all his teeth is further evidence that running away leads to defeat.
Alfie has much better luck once he finds the courage to confront the tooth snatcher head-on. Instead of running away from this scary problem, he tries to lure the evil creature to his territory. Alfie’s plan is sound; holding his ground without fleeing reveals that the tooth snatcher can fly, which will be helpful in his eventual victory over this evil force. Confronting the monster and seeing her eyes also reveals her identity as Miss Root.
In a crucial moment of decision at the edge of the mine shaft, Alfie rejects Winnie’s insistence that he must retreat. He knows that only by confronting the witch might he save Gabz. Acting on his courage and newfound determination to challenge the monster directly, he jumps onto the elevator cable and descends—without knowing what he might find below. With help from Gabz and Dad, Alfie prevents the witch from succeeding in her evil intentions. Based on the failure of running away at school, his success in revealing the tooth snatcher, and his victory over the witch, Alfie learns that confronting adversity leads to a more successful outcome than running away from one’s problems.
Changing One’s Mindset Following Growth and Maturation
Alfie is a quiet boy, but his reactions and opinions at the start of the story are clear. For example, he finds Winnie insufferable, and though he is happy to have a friend in Gabz, he would never consider her as a girlfriend. Also, between his socioeconomic situation and Dad’s worsening illness, he feels little hope. Alfie’s experiences, however, help him come of age; his mindset changes to reflect this growth. Notably, he feels differently about Winnie and Gabz, and he demonstrates a higher degree of hope for the future by the novel’s end.
Alfie’s opinion of Winnie is clear throughout their early interactions. At the Griffith residence, Alfie thinks of Winnie as an “intruder” and finds her mannerisms, speech, and dress “annoying.” He is ill at ease with her demeanor: “Alfie reluctantly let his little hand meet hers. The social worker gripped it tight and shook it so vigorously, the boy thought his poor arm would be yanked out of its socket” (64-65). Winnie’s sudden imposition frustrates Alfie. Usually polite and kind, Alfie speaks to Winnie rudely and evades her by running away. These early reactions are strongly juxtaposed with his feelings for Winnie by the end of his conflict with the Tooth Witch and the loss of Dad. Those experiences cause Alfie to grow in maturity and see Winnie’s kindness and fortitude. Alfie’s changed mindset leads to his happiness when Winnie announces her intention to adopt him.
Alfie states throughout much of the story that Gabz is not and will never be his girlfriend. He corrects PC Plank when Plank refers to Gabz as such, and he agrees with Raj’s term “friendgirl” to clarify his relationship with Gabz. Alfie even debates the witch’s use of the term “girlfriend” in the tense dentist office scene just before the witch flies away with Gabz: “Just for the record, she is not my girlfriend” (325). Again, however, Alfie’s dramatic experiences in foiling the witch’s plans cause a shift in his mindset. By Dad’s funeral, Alfie gratefully accepts Gabz’s kiss on his cheek and her comforting words. A year later, they are boyfriend and girlfriend. Alfie’s changed mindset about Gabz results from his growth as a young teen.
Finally, Alfie also demonstrates a changed mindset regarding the future. His resignation and bleakness fade in the year following Dad’s death, and when he boards the moped with Winnie and Raj, he feels hope for his family’s future. The grieving and healing process following his and Dad’s defeat of the Tooth Witch incurs growth in Alfie, and like his changed mindset about Winnie and Gabz, his new, more mature outlook allows for greater happiness.
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