Chapter One

Mr Dunfilling was a clever and famous dentist. He had little round glasses and a very high forehead with a little tuft of hair on top. People said he had a very high forehead because of his brains. But being clever and famous wasn't helping Mr Dunfilling now. For some reason there were less and less patients coming to the surgery. “Dear, oh deary me,” said Mrs Trimble, his receptionist. “If we keep losing patients I will soon be out of a job.” “And you won't need an assistant,” said Ricky, who helped Mr Dunfilling during his school holidays. He wanted to be a dentist himself one day. Mr Dunfilling wasn't listening. He was too busy reading a book of tongue twisters. “Listen to this,” he said. “Can you say Unique New York ten times, fast?” “Unique New York, New yeek yewnork,” said Ricky, laughing. “Dear, oh deary me, Mr Dunfilling. You must do something,” interrupted Mrs Trimble.

“Um er oh yes,” said Mr Dunfilling. “We must find out where all my patients are going.” “There aren't any other dentists in this town,” said Ricky. “They all come to you because you're so famous.” “Used to come to me,” corrected Mr Dunfilling. “There must be someone new in town.” “Well they're not in the telephone directory.” said Mrs Trimble, thumbing through the pages. Mr Dunfilling looked in the local paper for advertisements about new dentists. All he found was a page advertising the latest beauty cream.

The cream came in something that looked like a tube of toothpaste. “Hmm,” said Mr Dunfilling. “I must get some for Mrs Trimble.” In the evening Mr Dunfilling watched the news on the television. Everyone was talking about the Jay-Jay Anti-ageing cream. “Experts say it really does work,” said the reporter. “The inventor has become a millionaire over night. Who is Jay-Jay? Where he lives and what he looks like nobody knows.” “He's certainly more clever than me,” said Mr Dunfilling.

Chapter Two

The next morning on his way to work Mr Dunfilling passed the newsagents. They were even selling Jay-Jay Anti-ageing cream there. Mr Dunfilling went inside to buy some but there wasn’t any left. On his way out he glanced at the advertising cards in the window. One caught his eye. ‘Jemima's Charity Dental Surgery, Dockside Lane. All Treatment Free’ “All treatment free!” said Mr Dunfilling. “So that's where my patients are going.” When Mr Dunfilling arrived at his surgery, his receptionist wasn't there. “Is Mrs Trimble ill?” he asked the young woman at the desk. “She has never felt better, Mr Dunfilling,” said the woman. “Has Mrs Trimble been called away urgently then?” said Mr Dunfilling, still rather puzzled. “She didn't telephone to warn me.” “Dear, oh deary me Mr Dunfilling,” said the woman. “Haven't you guessed? I am Mrs Trimble. I tried some of this new Anti-ageing cream and it works!” Mr Dunfilling was so shocked that he fell backwards knocking over the hat stand.

“It's incredible, isn't it, Mr Dunfilling?” said Ricky. “Mrs Trimble looks younger than my mum.” Mrs Trimble handed Mr Dunfilling the tube. It really did look like a tube of toothpaste. He squeezed some of the white gritty substance onto his finger. “I wonder what's in it?” said Ricky. “I don't know,” said Mrs Trimble. “But all I want now is sparkling white teeth. Can you do me a polish, Mr Dunfilling?” Mr Dunfilling suddenly remembered the card he had seen in the newsagents. “I have a better idea," he said. “Why not have some free treatment here.” He handed Mrs Trimble the address he had written down. “I think this is where all my patients are going. See if you can find out more about this Jemima person.” Mrs Trimble liked the idea of having free treatment. “Can I go right now, Mr Dunfilling?” she asked. “You might as well,” he sighed. “ I don't seem to have any patients today.” Mrs Trimble left the surgery and Mr Dunfilling sat down to read his book of tongue twisters. “Red lolly, yellow lorry, red lolly, yellow lorry," he said to himself over and over again. Then he started making up tongue twisters of his own. “Finding funny fillings… That’s not very good,” he muttered. “What about pneumatic municipal? Hmm. Much better.” Mrs Trimble returned two hours later. “Jemima was very good,” she said. “My teeth are like new.” Mr Dunfilling looked at her gleaming white teeth. “She has done a better job than me,” he said gloomily. “What instruments did she use?” “I don't know,” said Mrs Trimble. “She gave me some gas so I was asleep at the time.” “Gas? Just for a polish?” said Mr Dunfilling, suspiciously. “That sounds odd. Let me see your teeth again.” Mrs Trimble sat in the chair while Mr Dunfilling examined her teeth with his mirror. He probed and prodded and tapped. “Hmm," he said thoughtfully. “It appears that Jemima has taken the tops off all your teeth and replaced them with plastic ones!” Mrs Trimble was so shocked that she bit Mr Dunfilling's finger by mistake. “Dear oh deary me,” she said. “I won't trust any other dentist but you in future.” “But what is she doing with all the real teeth?” Ricky asked. “I don't know,” said Mr Dunfilling grimly. “But I think it's time we found out.”

Chapter Three

Mr Dunfilling and Ricky drove down to Dockside Lane. On the door of a big house was a silver plaque that said Jemima's Charity Dental Surgery. Mr Dunfilling opened the door and went inside. There was no one at the reception desk so they went straight into the surgery. There didn’t appear to be anything unusual about the surgery. In fact it was a lot like Mr Dunfilling’s own-except there was a large plastic bin in one corner. “Oh dear. There’s nobody here,” said Ricky. “We’ll have to come back tomorrow.” But Mr Dunfilling had already disappeared through a door marked PRIVATE. “Ssh!” he said. “Let’s see what we can find.” They were in a cupboard. Hundreds of empty toothpaste tubes were piled onto the shelves. Each one had the Jay-Jay Anti-ageing Cream label on it. “Maybe Jemima is opening a Beauty Salon as well as a dentist surgery,” said Ricky. Suddenly there was a clattering noise behind them. Mr Dunfilling quickly closed the door and watched through the keyhole. Two women were wheeling a metal trolley into the surgery. They fetched the plastic bin from the corner of the room and emptied the contents onto a tray. Mr Dunfilling gasped as he saw that the bin had been full of teeth. Then the two women wheeled the trolley to a screen against the wall. Hidden behind it was a metal door. “Sweep's meat smells sweet, sweep's meat smells sweet, sweep's meat smells sweet,” said one of the women amazingly quickly. The door slid open. “A voice-controlled door!” Mr Dunfilling whispered to Ricky. “And the code is a tongue-twister. That’s a bit of luck!” When the women had gone, Mr Dunfilling and Ricky left their hiding place and hurried over to the secret door. Mr Dunfilling licked his lips and then said: “Sweep's meat smells sweet, sweep's meat smells sweet, sweep's meat smells sweet.” The door opened. They crept down a metal corridor until they reached a huge factory floor, full of machinery. “Hide behind this pile of boxes,” said Mr Dunfilling. “Let’s see what happens to those teeth.”

The women lifted the tray from the trolley and tipped the teeth down a metal chute. Then they walked off towards the far end of the factory. Mr Dunfilling crept over to the where the teeth had been tipped. Next to the chute was a door that said Tooth Grinder. “What do they want with ground up teeth?” asked Ricky. “I don’t know,” said Mr Dunfilling. “But if we can find the control room it might give us some clues.” Mr Dunfilling and Ricky wandered between the huge pieces of machinery. They passed some huge containers and Ricky noticed a lever on the side of one of them. “I wonder what it does,” said Mr Dunfilling, pulling on it carefully. A blob of white cream came out of a pipe and landed on his head. “Look, Mr Dunfilling. Your hair is growing again!” Mr Dunfilling looked at himself in a shiny bit of metal. Thick hair had sprouted from the top of his bald head.

“Hmm…” said Mr Dunfilling. “This cream is strong stuff, and I think I might know what it is.” Around the corner they found the control room. The walls were covered in pictures. A circus poster said: Josephine and Jemima The Tongue-Twister Sisters The fastest talking sisters in the world. There were newspaper cuttings too. One headline said: Top Scientist Wins Award with a picture of Josephine underneath. Another showed Jemima after passing her dentist exams. “Look, Mr Dunfilling,” said Ricky excitedly. “I think I’ve found the ingredients for that white cream.” Mr Dunfilling inspected the list. It was full of very complicated chemicals but Mr Dunfilling recognised one name. “There’s an ingredient here called Dentin. That’s what teeth are made of,” he said. “No wonder they needed so many teeth.” Mr Dunfilling and Ricky were startled by a noise. They turned to see Josephine in the doorway waving a dangerous looking dental drill at them.

“What are you doing here? ” she said. Mr Dunfilling blinked. Josephine certainly talked very fast. “Um...er,” said Mr Dunfilling. “We'd both like a check-up please.” “I don’t believe you,” she said. “Sit down!” She pointed to two dentist chairs. Mr Dunfilling and Ricky did as they were told. Then she switched on a bright light and shone it on their faces. “I think we’re going to be interrogated,” gulped Ricky. “What are your names?” Josephine said. “Mr Dun...Dunroamin,” said Mr Dunfilling, “and this is my son, Rocky.” Then Jemima appeared. “It’s alright. I know who these people are,” she said, speaking just as fast as her sister. “ This is Mr Dunfilling the famous dentist, and his assistant. I thought we might get a visit sooner or later.” “I think I know who you are too,” said Mr Dunfilling. "Jemima and Josephine. J and J like Jay-Jay on the tubes of Anti-ageing cream." “And we know what you're up to,” Ricky blurted out. “You're grinding up people's teeth to put in the cream!” “You’re very clever and quite right,” said Josephine. “ Not long ago I discovered a formula for an anti-ageing cream. It needed ground up elephant ivory in the mixture but elephants are too well protected from poachers. Then my dentist sister here told me that teeth are made of Dentin, the same material as elephant ivory. So we decided to set up a dental surgery to get people’s teeth. We needed lots of teeth so free treatment was the best way to get patients. Now we are both rich!” “Unfortunately, now that you know our little secret, I’m afraid we can’t allow you to escape!” said Jemima nastily, “ Take them to the Tooth Grinder!” The two sisters marched them to the tooth grinding machine and opened the door with another tongue-twisting code. “Listless lisping thistles, listless lisping thistles, listless lisping thistles,” Josephine said. She pushed Mr Dunfilling and Ricky inside and slammed the door shut. “I’m afraid we don’t have time to see you ground up into a powder,” said Jemima with an evil laugh. “Goodbye!” Jemima switched on the grinding machine and then both sisters went off to make a new batch of anti-ageing cream.

Chapter Four

“Hmm,” muttered Mr Dunfilling, nervously. “This tongue-twister is more difficult.” He licked his lips again and tried the voice code, “Listless lisping thistles, lithtless lithping…Oh dear…” “Hurry up Mr Dunfilling!” cried Ricky. The blades of the grinder were getting closer and closer. Mr Dunfilling tried again, “Listless lisping thistles, listless lisping thistles, listless lisping thistles.” The door still didn’t open. “You’re not saying it fast enough!” wailed Ricky. Mr Dunfilling tried for the third time, “Listless lisping thistles, listless lisping thistles, listless thistles.” There was a whirr and a click as the door sprung open. They jumped out quickly. “That was close,” gasped Ricky. “Now we must catch those evil tongue-twisting sisters,” said Mr Dunfilling, grimly. Mr Dunfilling and Ricky crept back to the control room without being seen. The two sisters were high up on the cream making machine, watching it being mixed. Mr Dunfilling found a button marked Full Power and pressed it, while Ricky switched switches and pressed buttons. The room began to shake and a red warning light began to flash. Then Ricky saw the two sisters climbing down from the machine. “Look out Mr Dunfilling!” he shouted. Mr Dunfilling gulped. “Quick! Run for the exit!” he said. As they passed the big containers of cream Mr Dunfilling had an idea. He pulled the lever down hard. Just as the sisters caught up with them, the Anti-ageing Cream came spraying out of the pipe and onto the floor. Both Jemima and Josephine went slipping and sliding all over the place, covering themselves with the cream. Ricky and Mr Dunfilling finally got to the door at the end of the corridor. Mr Dunfilling spoke the tongue twister: “Sweep's meat smells sweet, sweep's meat smells sweet, sweep's meat smells sweet.” As the door opened they saw the sisters still coming after them. Ricky slammed the door. “How can we keep them in there?” he said, worriedly. “They can say the tongue twister and escape.” “Hmm,” said Mr Dunfilling, “I think I can make a tongue twister voice code of my own.” He fiddled with the door panel and pulled out some wires. Then he spoke into the loudspeaker by the door: “Pneumatic municipal, pneumatic municipal, pneumatic municipal, pneumatic municipal.” The sisters hammered on the door. “Pneumatic numicipal, munatic nunicipal…Ahh!” they said. Although they tried again and again, the tongue twister was too difficult for them. Ricky telephoned for the police and Mr Dunfilling kept a guard on the door. While he was waiting he noticed something very strange. As he peered through the window at the sisters, they seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, and younger and younger. When the police arrived, Mr Dunfilling said his tongue twister to open the door. But all the police found were two babies crawling around in the corridor.

“They must have had too much cream,” said Mr Dunfilling. “It will be a long time before they’ll be saying any more tongue-twisters or inventing any more anti-ageing cream.” “They’re too young to send to prison,” said the police officer. “But I’m sure we can find some nice people to adopt them.” “Then hopefully they won’t grow up to be thuch nafty teef thieves, I mean sutth nathty teeth fieves, I mean shuch…” said Mr Dunfilling. “Oh dear…”