Bad Teeth Bradley's Arc

Chapter 1 of 4

Bradley felt the tooth go while he was chewing a caramel. It didn't crack or break clean — it just sort of gave up, like it had been holding on out of politeness and finally quit. He tongued the gap where the molar used to sit solid. Three weeks ago it had started hurting. He'd told himself he'd deal with it after he made it through one good tooth day. Then another week went by. Then another. He was standing in front of a cheerful little cottage when it happened, the kind with bright shutters and flowers in boxes. The candy wrapper fell from his hand. He pressed his tongue into the hole again, tasting copper and something worse. His mouth felt wrong now. Incomplete. He knew he should find a dentist, but the thought made his hands shake, so he reached into his pocket for another candy instead. A woman stepped out from behind the dental office across the way. She'd set up a folding table on the grass out front, covered in pamphlets that caught the light. She smiled at him — not a pitying smile, just calm — and held out a bright blue flyer. "You look like you could use this," she said. The flyer had cheerful cartoon teeth on it and words about easy routines. Too easy, really. Brush twice, floss once, visit every six months. Like it was that simple. Bradley took the flyer because his hand was already reaching. "Does it work?" he asked. The woman tilted her head. "Only if you want it to," she said. He looked down at the smiling tooth mascot. He thought about how the candy just showed up, how he got shaky when he tried to stop, how a good day meant feeling normal for maybe an hour. He folded the flyer in half and put it in his pocket. It sat there next to three wrapped candies and a stick of gum he'd been saving. He didn't know if he'd look at it again, but for the first time in weeks, he hadn't said no.