Dame Judi Dench has revealed that she is left in "agony" by her teeth as she gets older, disclosing the latest in a series of health struggles in her new memoir.
The 91-year-old actress, who has long been open about living with age-related macular degeneration, an eye condition that the NHS says "affects the middle part of your vision", addresses her painful problem in the book Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?: A memoir by Judi Dench, co-written with Brendan O'Hea.
Health struggles laid bare
In the memoir, the former James Bond star responds to a comment about how her voice has become lower in recent years, while detailing the physical toll of ageing. She writes: "No idea what that's about. Tonsils, probably. My hearing is also going. Goodness knows what I'm nodding and saying yes to on a daily basis. It's quite exciting actually. When you're young you don't mind if you have a twinge in your back. But when you're older you think, Oh God, here's something I've got to get used to. You're constantly on alert, wondering what's going to pack up next. My teeth are agony."
Dench also recounts an incident from 2007, when she was working on the period drama series Cranford, playing Ms Matty Jenkyns. She had to undergo emergency dental surgery to fix a crown, which involved going into the dentist's chair still in costume.
More candid revelations
The memoir includes further frank admissions about ageing. The Shakespeare in Love actress adds: "I tell you what else I've noticed about getting older. I break wind a lot more. I farted with such force when I got out of the car the other day that it not only propelled me into the house, but out of the back door and into the neighbour's house."
This is not the first time Dench has spoken openly about growing older. In an interview on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme with presenter Emma Barnett, she admitted that she could no longer act on stage due to her worsening vision. She said: "I can't be on stage, I can't do a play anymore. I can't do a film anymore. I can't read anymore. So you've got to adjust to all that and make allowances for it and just get on and don't think about it too much."
Dench is due to return to UK screens on Friday, November 6, appearing on The Graham Norton Show from 10:40pm.
