Evil Orthodontist is a "first season growing pains" type of episode. Somebody had an idea and they just did it because everyone's stressed and tired and whatever. Buffy was the king of these episodes. They're perfectly fine and funny, but in the grand scheme of things they're not gonna stand up amongst the best.

These two episodes, as well as the upcoming episode where we're introduced to Paolo and the characters split off into various factions during a blackout, feel very much like the writers trying to work out the chemistry between the actors and see who works best with who. Monica/Joey probably works the least…