David After Dentist

David After Dentist is the video of seven-year-old David DeVore Jr. after surgery to remove an extra tooth associated with hyperdontia; in the car, he asks whether this is real life and whether it will last forever, comments on his fingers, tries to push himself up while buckled, then screams and sinks back. The sources describe his reaction as confused and alarmed, while relating it to anesthesia without establishing a broader medical explanation.

In May 2008, David DeVore Sr. filmed his seven-year-old son before and after the procedure because the boy's mother could not attend, and he initially shared the footage with family and friends on Facebook. DeVore Sr. was the filmer and later the uploader.

Know Your Meme dates DeVore Sr.'s YouTube upload to January 30, 2009, and reports more than three million views within three days; Wikipedia describes a Facebook upload seven months after the May 2008 procedure, followed by a YouTube upload after people wanted to see the video, without giving a YouTube date. The May 2008 procedure and filming therefore predate the identified 2009 YouTube release.

Within the week after publication, Know Your Meme says the clip drew attention from news sites and technology blogs; PC Mag reported it as YouTube's second-most-watched video of 2009, behind Susan Boyle, and TIME placed it third on its 2010 list of the 50 best YouTube videos. A February 8, 2009 Laughing Squid article used psychedelic-drug analogies and described the two-minute clip as a compressed sequence of self-realizations.

Some viewers and commentators criticized the video as exploitative; in a February 9, 2009 Wall Street Journal interview, DeVore said he wanted to show David that his anxiety before the appointment had felt worse than the outcome and that David later found the footage funny. In the televised O'Reilly exchange, DeVore called it an innocent father-son exchange, while HuffPost reported O'Reilly's conclusion that he did not think DeVore was a bad person.

Beyond the original upload, the clip was referenced or adapted by My Name Is Earl, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, El Hormiguero, The Cleveland Show, Good Luck Charlie, Regular Show, So Random!, The Simpsons, Glee, New Girl, and Homestar Runner. Annoying Orange made a parody in which Orange had his teeth whitened rather than having a tooth removed, Brandon Hardesty made a version played as a serious drama, and BlameSociety's February 7, 2009 upload was titled "Chad After Dentist (David After Dentist Spoof)."

The DeVore family discussed the video on The Today Show, The Tyra Banks Show, and The O'Reilly Factor; David and his father later appeared in a Tosh.0 Web Redemption, and the family joined ROFLcon as guest panelists to discuss the video's unintended online fame. Know Your Meme also reports that the family partnered with Operation Smile.

The video's spread also produced commercial activity: the family became YouTube Partners, sold David After Dentist T-shirts or other merchandise, and earned from appearances, while accounts also describe charitable donations or fundraising. NPR reported $25,000 from the video in August 2009, whereas a later report said the family had made over $150,000 by June 2010, including $100,000 from the YouTube partnership and the rest from appearances and merchandise.

In May 2021, the DeVore family auctioned an NFT associated with David After Dentist, intending the proceeds for David and his brother's college tuition; Wikipedia reports that it sold for around $13,500.

The clip's timing turns the car scene after dental surgery into a compact escalation: David asks confused questions and comments on his fingers, then tries to rise while still buckled, screams, and sinks back. The seat-belt restraint and the move from verbal uncertainty to physical outburst create the concrete contrast, while Laughing Squid described the two-minute sequence as compressed stages of self-realization; Know Your Meme and Wikipedia describe the reaction as following anesthesia.