This week marks 30 years since the debut of the Golden Girls, a sitcom that shaped many Americans’ attitudes towards growing old. It helped us think about things like maintaining friendships and relationships when our health was failing, and the challenge of living with older relatives.
And among the things that Golden Girls helped us think about was dentures, which they helped us view with a little bit of humor and grace.
Best-Loved Denture Gags
The Golden Girls made fun of many aspects of wearing dentures. For example, in one episode, Sophia is trying try talk to her daughter about a visiting relative, and all of a sudden her dialogue devolves into nonsense. When asked what she was saying, she explains, “my denture slipped.” Difficulty speaking with dentures is common.
Dentures are also the source of one of the oddest put-downs in all of sit-com when Sophia tells her sister, “May you put your dentures in upside down and chew your head off!” (In case you’re wondering, no, that would never happen if you put your dentures in upside-down)
Betty White’s character Rose once reminisced about her own grandmother’s odd habit of removing her dentures and swigging water from the aquarium, along with a fish. She would then put a flashlight under her jaw so the kids could watch the fish swimming back and forth.
But dentures were also the source of wisdom, when Sophia explains “Anger is like a piece of shredded wheat caught under your dentures. If you leave it there, you get a blister, and you gotta eat Jell-O all week. If you get rid of it, the sore heals and you feel better.” Yeah, that’s a little profound, but it’s also important to note that not all denture sores heal if left alone.
Do You Find Humor or Wisdom in Your Dentures?
For those of us who watched Golden Girls as younger adults, the reality of getting old rarely matches the TV version. In particular, dentures become a lot less humorous when we can’t help but feel that the joke’s on us. However, your dentures don’t have to be the butt of jokes. With implant dentures, you can enjoy your life without worrying about slipping dentures or food caught under your dentures.
To learn more about getting dentures in Columbia, SC, please call (803) 781-9090 and schedule an appointment with a denture dentist at Smile Columbia Dentistry.
