Oh, I Wish I'd Looked After My Teeth Summary Class 9 English

About the Poet

Pam Ayres is a well-known poet and writer from the United Kingdom, born in 1947. She is famous for her funny and entertaining poetry. Pam started writing poems as a hobby and soon became popular for her unique style. She has appeared on many television shows in the UK, showcasing her comic verses. Over the years, she has published six books of poems and has recorded seven albums of her best-known works. Her poetry often reflects everyday life and experiences, making her relatable to many people. Pam Ayres has a special talent for turning ordinary moments into humorous and thoughtful poetry, and she continues to delight audiences with her work.

Key Points of the Poem

• The poem is titled "Oh, I Wish I'd Looked After Me Teeth" by Pam Ayres.
• It has four stanzas with a total of forty lines.
• The poem reflects on the speaker's regret about not taking care of their teeth when they were younger.
• The speaker humorously recalls the sweets and candies they consumed without thinking about the consequences.
• The poem conveys a message about the importance of dental hygiene and the consequences of neglecting it.

Theme/ Message

• Regret and Reflection: The poem expresses deep feelings of regret. The speaker looks back at their childhood and wishes they had made better choices regarding their dental care. This theme teaches us that our actions in the past can have long-lasting effects on our lives.
• Importance of Dental Hygiene: Another important theme is the value of taking care of our teeth. The poem humorously highlights the sweets and treats that the speaker enjoyed, which ultimately led to dental problems. It shows that we should be aware of our health choices.
• Humour in Everyday Life: The poem uses humour to discuss a serious topic. Pam Ayres skillfully mixes funny descriptions of sweets with serious consequences, making the poem entertaining while still delivering an important message.
• Parental Guidance: The speaker reflects on advice from their mother about taking care of their teeth. This theme emphasizes the role parents play in teaching their children about health and habits. It suggests that parents should encourage good habits from a young age.
• Message of Responsibility: The poem encourages readers to take responsibility for their health. The speaker realizes that neglecting dental care has led to undesirable outcomes. This message reminds us that we are responsible for our choices and should make wise decisions.
• Consequences of Carelessness: The poem illustrates how careless choices can lead to painful experiences, such as dental visits. It serves as a warning to be mindful of our habits and their potential consequences.
• Awareness of Health: The poem raises awareness about oral health. It stresses the need to prioritize dental hygiene and make conscious decisions to protect our teeth.

Detailed Summary

Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth,
And spotted the perils beneath.
All the toffees I chewed,
And the sweet sticky food,
Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth.

In this first stanza, the poet is expressing a big wish. She is saying that she wishes she had taken better care of her teeth. She talks about "spotted the perils beneath," which means she didn't see the dangers of eating too many sweets and candies. She remembers all the toffees and sticky foods she enjoyed eating. The poet feels regret and sadness because she now realizes that these yummy treats were not good for her teeth. This stanza sets the mood for the poem, showing that she is sorry for not being careful with her dental hygiene when she was younger.

I wish I’d been that much more willin’
When I had more tooth there than fillin’
To pass up gobstoppers.
From respect to me choppers,
And to buy something else with me shillin’.

In this stanza, the poet wishes she had been more willing to say "no" to sweets, especially when she had more healthy teeth than fillings. Fillings are what the dentist puts in your teeth when they have holes because of too much sugar. She mentions "gobstoppers," which are big, hard candies that can hurt your teeth. She regrets not respecting her teeth, which she calls "choppers," and wishes she had spent her money on something better than candy. This part shows us that she understands now that it is important to take care of your teeth and make wise choices about what to eat.

When I think of the lollies I licked,
And the liquorice all sorts I picked,
Sherbet dabs, big and little,
All that hard peanut brittle,
My conscience gets horribly pricked.

Here, the poet reflects on all the different kinds of candies she used to eat, like lollies, liquorice, and sherbet dabs. She talks about how she enjoyed big and little sweets and even hard peanut brittle, which is very crunchy. However, now when she thinks about all of this, she feels a sharp pain in her heart, which she describes as her "conscience gets horribly pricked." This means she feels guilty for not taking care of her teeth. This stanza shows how she realizes that her love for sweets has hurt her dental health.

My mother, she told me no end.
“If you got a tooth, you got a friend.”
I was young then, and careless,
Me teeth: my teeth
My toothbrush was hairless,
I never had much time to spend.

In this stanza, the poet remembers her mother giving her advice about teeth. Her mother said, "If you got a tooth, you got a friend," which means teeth are important and should be treated well. But when she was young, she didn’t listen and didn’t care much about her teeth. She describes her toothbrush as "hairless," which means it was old and not effective. She felt like she didn’t have enough time to take care of her teeth properly. This part of the poem shows how children sometimes ignore good advice and do not realize the importance of taking care of their health.

Oh, I showed them the toothpaste all right,
I flashed it about late at night,
But up-and-down brushin’
And pokin’ and fussin’
Didn’t seem worth the time—I could bite!

In this stanza, the poet says she did show her toothpaste, but it was more like a show-off than actually using it to clean her teeth. She would show it off at night but didn't take the time to brush properly. The "up-and-down brushin’" means she knew she should brush her teeth, but she didn’t really want to do it. She thought it was too much effort and preferred just to bite her food instead. This stanza highlights how easy it is to forget about dental care when you're more focused on enjoying sweets and having fun.

If I’d known, I was paving the way
To cavities, caps and decay,
The murder of fillin’s
Injections and drillin’s,
I’d have thrown all me sherbet away.

In this stanza, the poet realizes that not taking care of her teeth was making them worse and worse. "Paving the way" means she was unknowingly setting herself up for problems like cavities (holes in teeth), caps (covers for damaged teeth), and decay (when teeth go bad). She calls these problems "the murder of fillings," because they ruin what the dentist has done to fix her teeth. She mentions "injections and drillin’s," which are what the dentist has to do to fix her teeth when they are bad. This realization makes her wish she had thrown away all the sweet treats, like sherbet, to prevent these problems.

So I lay in the old dentist’s chair,
And I gaze up his nose in despair,
And his drill it do whine,
In these molars of mine.
“Two amalgum,” he’ll say, “for in there.”

In this stanza, the poet describes being in the dentist's chair, which is not a fun place to be. She looks up at the dentist and feels very sad and worried. The "drill" is a loud tool the dentist uses to fix teeth, and it makes a whining sound. She talks about her "molars," which are the big teeth at the back of your mouth. When the dentist says, “Two amalgum,” he means she needs two fillings to fix her bad teeth. This part of the poem shows us how scary and uncomfortable it can be to go to the dentist when we don't take care of our teeth.

How I laughed at my mother’s false teeth,
As they foamed in the waters beneath.
But now comes the reckonin’
It’s me they are beckonin’
Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth.

In the final stanza, the poet remembers laughing at her mother's false teeth, which are fake teeth that people wear. She saw them in the water and thought it was funny. But now, she is realizing that she is in a similar situation. The phrase "now comes the reckonin’" means she has to face the consequences of not taking care of her teeth. The dentist is calling to her, and she wishes she had looked after her teeth better. This ending brings back her feelings of regret and serves as a strong reminder about the importance of dental hygiene.

Difficult Words

• Toffees: A type of chewy candy.
• Perils: Dangers or risks.
• Willin': Willing, ready to do something.
• Gobstoppers: Large, hard candies that change colour as you eat them.
• Liquorice: A sweet candy made from the root of the liquorice plant.
• Sherbet dabs: Small, sweet candies that are fizzy in your mouth.
• Conscience: The inner sense of what is right or wrong.
• Amalgam: A mixture, often used to refer to a type of dental filling.
• Decay: The process of rotting or breaking down.
• Reckonin': A term meaning to consider or think about.
• Fillin': Refers to dental fillings, used to repair cavities.
• Chair: In this context, it refers to the dentist's chair.
• Whine: A high-pitched sound, often used to describe the sound of a dental drill.
• Despair: A feeling of hopelessness.