Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge -Missing

“A man begins cutting his first wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew.” – Don Quixote.

This week’s challenge on partner Susan and my site is MISSING. 

Once again I have gone off on a creative tangent and defined a version of the challenge as a popular condition many men over a certain age are adopting. For some, the jack-o-lantern toothless look is becoming fashionable. For others, it is a matter of increased dental costs.

A number of such men I spoke with laughed off their Dickensian toothless condition with a range of snide remarks. Others refused to smile but accepted their fate.

Terry Thomas ( featured in the above collage) was a thickly moustachioed, gap-toothed British comic actor noted for his film roles as a pretentious, scheming twit. That space between his front teeth was his stock character trademark and the roles he played in the movies tended to highlight his sneakier side.

Today many men over a certain age ( especially the professional athletes) smile unabashed or are personally unaffected by the fact that a front tooth or a few teeth are missing.

Even Shaquille O’Neal ( reportedly worth more than $400 million U.S. dollars) does an Epson Ink cartridge commercial with a wide gap on the left side of his upper jaw. This was a cute advertising gimmick to help him bond with his potential Canadian customers.

I wonder if modern men feel that the loss of a tooth is not worth the expense of having a partial plate on implant installed. Athletes might feel that losing a tooth is similar to the dueling scars of yesteryear when fencing was the rage.

This week partner Susan and I invite you to offer your opinions and impressions of this growing phenomenon.

As always, our challenge is flexible so please interpret the word Missing in a way that suits you – Words, Pictures, Poetry or Rhyme.

Please tag Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge Missing

Permalink: https://weeklyprompts.com/2022/05/25/weekly-prompts-wednesday-challenge-missing/

==========

Blogging Problems and need hints and tips? Try our How-To section  Access it Here

Please Note: Normal comments are disabled on our challenge pages in favour of pingbacks. Your comments/questions are welcome on the Talk-to-Us and How-to-Pages.

Challenges published Wednesday and Saturday – 07:00 AM (UK) – 00:00 EDM (CA)

Site owners – GC, themainaisle.com and Sue W, nansfarm.net