99-year-old Hollywood icon rushed to the ER for an X-ray, fearing he’d swallowed his dentures — then learned the hilarious truth from his dog
A 99-year-old Hollywood icon had an unexpected day that ended in laughter rather than panic. The entertainer, who will celebrate his 100th birthday tomorrow, on December 13, recently shared a story about a sudden health scare that had him rushing to urgent care. The unusual incident involved an X-ray, a missing dental plate, and the clever antics of a family pet. The tale came to light on November 30, 2025, during the Vandy High Tea event held at his Malibu home, where he recounted the experience with humor and charm.
As reported by PEOPLE, the story unfolded when the actor, Dick Van Dyke, realized his dental plate had gone missing. Speaking at the charity event, he said, “I have to tell you about this dog. I have a dental plate here. You see that gap? Somehow it was nice and snug. It fell out. And I looked, and I looked, and I looked.” Searching around the house, including under the dining room table, he discovered that the family dog, Bootsy Poppins, whom the actor had adopted in December 2023 with his wife, Arlene Silver, had found it first. “This dog is chewing on my dental plate! She chewed it up to bits,” he said, describing the moment with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. His wife, also part of the panel, recalled the frantic moment. “We thought you swallowed it, remember? We had to do an X-ray,” she explained, prompting him to add, “That’s right — we thought I swallowed it.”
The episode ended on a lighthearted note when Bootsy revealed the mystery. Silver said, “So it was good news that we found it, right, Boots? … Then Bootsy found it during rehearsal. We were relieved.” The couple, married in 2012, laughed over the story while highlighting how their playful dog had inadvertently caused a small scare. Some curious dogs will eat just about anything, leaving their owners stressed in the moment but laughing about it later. In another recent incident, a woman panicked when her diamond wedding ring suddenly disappeared, and no amount of searching brought it back. Her daughter, Michaela, said her mom had called her in tears after realizing it was gone. The family searched the house from top to bottom before noticing their dog, Amber, acting oddly, which raised a new possibility. Michaela borrowed a metal detector from her cousin, and her dad slowly scanned Amber to check their theory.
When the detector passed over the dog’s stomach, it began beeping fast, confirming what they feared and turning worry into hearty shocked laughter. As Michaela shared in an online post, “The freaking dog ate it.” Soon after, the family got the ending they hoped for. Michaela shared that the ring had been safely recovered and handed back to her mom. She posted pictures showing Amber looking innocent, followed by the X-ray, and finally the diamond ring shining again on her mom’s finger. Her mom joked that she cleaned it “100 times,” relieved that something so precious was finally home.