History Main / SignedUpForTheDental

* Mentioned in ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'', when a group of {{Mooks}} attempt to unionise the henchmen of GothamCity.

* [[JackieChanAdventures Tohru's]] reason for his HeelFaceTurn: "Tuesday is donut day at Section 13."

* ''IrregularWebcomic'' has [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/771.html a]] [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1107.html couple]] of these, with one of them being a spoof for reasons why [[StarWars Anakin]] should join the dark side.

* In WeirdAlYankovic's "Party at the {{CIA}}" parody, he offhandedly mentions that they have a better dental plan than the {{FBI}}.

* Not necessarily canon, unless you count [[Fanon the speculation]], but still worth mentioning. Despite being the most evil and power-hungry human in the world, [[StreetFighter Bison]] ''does'' sport clean white teeth. [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Shadaloo]] dental care: best in the world.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* All too TruthInTelevision in nations like the USA that don't provide government health insurance. Some mentioned examples from the United States may [[DiscreditedTrope quickly become obsolete]] due to [[BarackObama recent]] [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp legislation]].
** A TV report once mentioned that only three major industrialized countries do not have some form of public health insurance: The US, Mexico and Turkey.
** In the USA, in addition to taking a job for the health insurance, people have gotten married for it. Joining the military to get health care for yourself and/or your family is also done.
*** In the American military, junior enlisted members who are single live in the barracks, and are expected to eat most of their meals in the chow halls. ''Married'' junior enlisted members are given additional pay allowances to get an apartment and buy food to put on the table[[hottip:*: In exchange, they are given a deadline to be packed up and out of the barracks, and no longer get their food free at the chow hall.]] Inversely, a civilian might marry a military member for benefits to include a steady source of income, medical coverage, additional money for college, and of course, getting the heck out of their dump of a home town.
** It isn't just limited to the US or the Third World either. While the other major industrialized countries usually DO have government health care, little things like scarcity and system blockages tend to mean that many get jobs that can at least more readily access said government health care.
** American employer-provided health care originated in [[http://www.helium.com/debates/66133-should-businesses-be-required-to-pay-for-health-care-insurance/side_by_side?page=7 World War II as an alternative to wage raises]] (which were illegal thanks to wartime wage and price freezes). I'm sure their workers would have been happy with higher wages but the word of government spoke and it said: "No", so this trope was used as the only legal means to lure in new recruits.
* Many people joining foreign armed forces do this in order to get their host countries' citizenship.
* In many totalitarian countries (NaziGermany and Saddam's Iraq spring to mind) a lot of the people joined the ruling party less out of ideological fervor and more out of the fringe benefits they provided - the Wall Street Journal once interviewed a policeman who joined the Ba'ath Party to get its relatively decent health-care program.
** In the SovietUnion, entering a university without joining the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komsomol Komsomol]] was next to impossible. High-ranking jobs (and their benefits) also required party membership.

----
<<|ComedyTropes|>>

*** In the American military, junior enlisted members who are single live in the barracks, and are expected to eat most of their meals in the chow halls. ''Married'' junior enlisted members are given additional pay allowances to get an apartment and buy food to put on the table. Many servicemembers know at least one person who got married just to get out of the dorms and get a payraise. [[SarcasmMode Truly the most noble reason to get married.]] Inversely, the civilians who get into these marriages are said to be "looking for their meal ticket", as the benefits given to family members of American servicemembers, including medical care and college tuition, are not inconsiderable.

[[AC:{{VideoGames}}]]

*** [[YourMileageMayVary You may argue about Mexico and/or Turkey being full-fledged industrial nations.]]

** American employer-provided health care originated in [http://www.helium.com/debates/66133-should-businesses-be-required-to-pay-for-health-care-insurance/side_by_side?page=7 World War II as an alternative to wage raises] (which were illegal thanks to wartime wage and price freezes). I'm sure their workers would have been happy with higher wages but the word of government spoke and it said: "No", so this trope was used as the only legal means to lure in new recruits.

* ''FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'': In TheOneWhere they all go to the mall, Coco keeps getting jobs there, and Frankie seems rather tempted when she finds out that the jobs come with dental ''and'' chiropractic insurance.

* ''Cable & Deadpool'' has Bob [[spoiler:AGENT OF HYDRA]], who says that he joins HYDRA because of the dental. He finds out too late that only AIM offers a dental plan.