Julie Jay: Trips to the dentist can often be a kick in the teeth 

"Our new dentist’s reception area is so instantly soothing, I was almost envious of the patients waiting for a root canal. The sparkling floors scream, ‘We don’t reuse toothpicks here,’ while the funny ornaments, depicting old-school dentists, complete with monocles, tell us this dentist also knew how to have fun."

As Number One played with the dentures model in the foyer, I couldn’t help but think back to when I was a child and going to these types of appointments myself.

THIS week, Number One and I marched off to the dentist. It was a new dentist, because we like to keep things interesting, and the surgery was located in the business quarter of downtown Tralee.

Once Mammy had worked out the parking situation (why does everything involve downloading an app?), we arrived, a little late, but arrived nonetheless, into our new dental practice and immediately got the feeling that we had happened upon a pretty fancy spot. So fancy was it that I also instantly felt underdressed and regretted not washing my face in advance.