Everyone is familiar with the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song–a classic in the list of Christmas carols. The lyrics were first published in 1780 in England in an illustrated children’s book, Mirth Without Mischief, and in a broadsheet by Angus of Newcastle. There were actually a large number of melodies associated with these lyrics, but the best known is the 1909 arrangement taken from a traditional folk melody by the English composer Frederic Austin. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)]

Who hasn’t heard ad nauseum about the eccentric gifts given by the true love on each of the 12 days? In case you forgot, here they are: a partridge in a pear tree, 2 turtle doves, 3 French hens, 4 calling birds, 5 golden rings, 6 geese a-laying, 7 swans a-swimming, 8 maids a-milking, 9 ladies dancing, 10 lords a-leaping, 11 pipers piping and 12 drummers drumming. One can only imagine the mayhem that all these gifts caused for the poor recipient. There is a funny series of thank you letters that illustrate this mayhem. The recipient, Agnes, starts out thanking “Dearest John” for the lovely partridge in a pear tree. Each day John gets another “thank you” letter. Toward the end of the twelve days “Dearest John” is replaced with expletives, culminating in this final letter from an attorney: [https://www.humormatters.com/holidays/12%20Days%20Of%20Xmas.htm]

I like to think of myself as the “gadfly” of dentistry, and my gifts to you this season are “The Twelve Blogs of 2025.” Now I don’t expect that these blogs will send you to the Sanitarium, but I do expect that they will make you stop and think. The blogs are provocative on different issues in the profession, and they state what many practitioners are thinking, but dare not say.

Several years worth of blogs can be found at https://theonwardprogram.com/blog/. Many previous blogs were published in the book Open Wide, which can be found on Amazon.com.

If you didn’t get a chance to read them, now is your chance for enlightenment. Here’s a list of this year’s bombshells:

January: Dental Social Media Groups: Bastions of Groupthink

February: Why are Dental Professionals, Educators and Meeting Planners NOT curious?

March: Tbe Unspoken Conflict of Interest

April: Some Thoughts on Standards

May: Some Thoughts About Success

June: Use Your Voice to Help Someone with a Voice Disorder

July: Independence Day Celebrates Freedom, but Freedom Requires Responsibility

August: The Elephant in the Room: Age Discrimination

September: What’s the Deal with AI?

October: Arrogance in the Dental Profession

November: The Zirconia Scam