Most of us probably shudder as we remember the poor kids that had metal braces when we were at school. On a daily basis, they would suffer the torment of teasing, and sometimes bullying, at school. They probably look back at those days now though and think it was all worth it as they look in the mirror at their correctly aligned teeth, whilst we who mocked, can only look on as we inspect our own crooked sets of teeth.

If, like me, you have always assumed that it was too late to have braces in adulthood, then think again. I was surprised, the other day, as I walked past an established dentist in Ealing, in west London who was advertising braces designed for adults. My first thought was that there was no way that you would persuade an adult to wear those monstrosities. And then, I caught site of the picture of them. They really don’t even look like braces. I ventured in to ask about them and was told that actually you get 4 braces, all individually made from x-rays of your own teeth. They are made from a medical grade clear plastic which means that they are almost invisible to other people while you are wearing them. And, even better than that, you don’t wear them while you are eating so there are no problems choosing which food. You simply wear one set until the teeth have been corrected according to where that set desired them to, and then you wear the next set and so on until your teeth are correctly positioned.

So, having spotted the ‘Invisible Braces Ealing’ poster in the dentist’s window, I think I may just give them a try. They sound extremely easy to use and without any painfully embarrassing moments with food particles becoming stuck in your teeth.