The dentist Corrado Palmas thus responds to the provocation of the famous artist Luciana Littizzetto in the last episode of What’s the weather like? : “I understand that the sketch was intended to sting Minister Salvini but, to do this, you cannot smear an entire category.”
“Luciana, come on, don’t act like a radical chic bourgeois. The role doesn’t suit you.” Corrado Palmas thus responds to the forty seconds that Littizzetto dedicated to him in the last episode of the show Che tempo che fa broadcast on Nove: “I understand that the sketch aimed to pique Minister Salvini – explains the dentist – but, to do this, we cannot sully an entire category. Leaving your home country, and my Sardinia, to seek your fortune abroad is a courageous choice that brings unique challenges and opportunities. Challenges that I took on and which have led me today, between Italy, Romania and Moldova, to open state-of-the-art centers which employ nearly 600 people. This does not seem small to me, dear Luciana, and if I have managed to build all this, I am certainly not working with plasticine, as you insinuated, but with great honesty and professionalism.”
Challenges, therefore, as an element of life: “I like – affirms Palmas – to confront myself and, irony for irony, I thought, my dear Luciana, to give you a gift. I know you also had problems with your dentition and so I wanted to dedicate a video to you to show you how I would transform your smile. If you like it and if you accept, I will even pay for the plane to arrive on time, here the transport really works, in one of my offices and, perhaps, Fabio Fazio can serve as a witness. What do you say? In addition, if you want, I will accompany you on a guided tour to help you discover the state-of-the-art equipment we have available, the capacity and kindness of the collaborators and, of course, their habit of carrying out interventions in the rules of the art. I am sure that you, despite your little snobbish appearance, will be able to accept the invitation and perhaps change your mind.”
The provocation
But there is one aspect that is absolutely not easy to digest. About 200,000 Italians practice the so-called dental tourismthat is to say, they decide to stay in foreign countries to treat their teeth: “They do not do it – Palmas affirms – for fun but because in Italy they do not have the economic possibility of treatment. I know that the problem, dear Luciana, does not concern you but, to tell you the truth, I am surprised that you do not consider the problem at all. I’ll give you a figure to think about: 60% of the people you meet every day on the street don’t go to the dentist and you know why? Simply because they don’t have the means to do it. Going beyond national borders is for them the only possibility of finding a dignified life. Should we blame them for this? I would say no.”
Hence the invitation: “Luciana, listen to me – Corrado Palmas concludes – come down from your ivory tower and come back and listen to people. Take a plane and come to my house. Wherever you want, Moldova or Romania. You are my guest and we are drinking a good coffee together. Don’t worry, it’s strictly Italian.”
