Dear Mary… | 9 June 2007

Q. One of the most characteristic aspects of being a member of the British middle class ‘nouveau pauvre’ is finding it embarrassing to take action when things we used to take for granted as a free service are now very expensive. I have paid over £3,000 to our (private) dentist for our younger son to be fitted with the new South African ‘train track’ mini-braces that are a status symbol at his school. After 18 months he admittedly does have a Hollywood smile, but all I have is a large bill and the recently removed set of perfectly fine braces. It seems a criminal waste of money to throw them away. My wife, who is of German extraction, has suggested that, with a bit of adjustment, they could be re-fitted on to our border terrier — a pedigree animal only let down by a slightly undershot lower jaw. I regard this as a completely outrageous idea but my wife insists it is only sensible to see if the cost can be amortised, and insists I speak to the dentist.