Little White Things

    Nellie wears dentures. She had only a few teeth left when I met her, and it wasn't long until all of them needed to come out. So I took her to the dentist and we sat for a very long time, fitting and re-fitting, until finally we left with a new set of teeth. I think it took two visits. It was excruciating, for Nellie at least--the poor thing was completely exhausted. But now she has a mouth full of teeth, which would be very handy for chewing if she could find something to hold them in. Unfortunately, she isn't interested in denture glue. I tried. She might have used the stuff I brought her, several years ago now, but she didn't like it. So most days, even when she remembers not to talk with her mouth full, it's still a little tricky to understand her because her teeth just won't hold still!
    One afternoon, however, she came up with a solution. "You know what I would really like to have?" she asked me. I couldn't guess, so she went on. "I saw it on TV--a lady went into a drugstore and they gave her something and she put it on her teeth and smiled and everything was wonderful! I would love to have some."
    I don't watch a lot of television, and I don't have very much experience with dentures, so I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was that she would love to have. "But what is it?" I tried to get her to clarify.
    "It's little white things," she demonstrated with her hands. "There are big ones and little ones, I think. I'd rather have the little ones."
    "And you can get it at any drugstore? Or is there a specific place I need to look?"
    "Oh, I think you can get it at any drugstore. And the lady smiled big, like this--and everything worked out perfectly!"
    "But what is it? Is it glue for your dentures?"
    Nellie made a face. "No, not glue. Who wants glue? It's little white things."
    I still wasn't sure what I was supposed to be looking for. "What does it do? Does it hold your teeth in?"
    "I think so."
    "So it's like stickers for your teeth, maybe?"
    "Maybe so. They show it on TV all the time! Doesn't your grandma wear dentures? You can ask her."
    I shook my head dubiously. "No, my grandma has all her own teeth still. But I'll try."
   
    I've looked at two different drugstores and asked various denture-wearing and non-denture-wearing friends. No one has heard of such a thing, but we haven't given up hope yet.