According to a survey by Which? magazine, 8% of us have tried a spot of DIY dentistry. What might this entail? It's not quite a Which?-sized sample, but I visited five shops and told them half my tooth had fallen out - a problem of which I have recent experience - and asked what they could offer me. At Boots I found a range by a company called Dentek - a "tooth and crown saver" for the safe keeping of lost teeth, some temporary filling material and cap and crown cement for sticking back anything that has come adrift (£15 the lot). The assistant was sure it would see me through the next fortnight.

I then tried a couple of independent pharmacies. The first sold me a dental repair kit to "repair loose caps and lost fillings". The small packet was festooned with claims - "Clinically proven", "Stays fresh", "You can eat on it". All this for £4.39, though the pharmacist seemed a little sheepish and several times asked, "Are you sure you can't get to a dentist?"

No such qualms at a food and wine shop nearby. They sold me a small box of toothpicks, and suggested I lever the remnant of tooth out. I thought this was one shopowner's lunacy, but the same thing happened at the next all-purpose store. But when I reached the first-aid section, the toothpicks were sold out. It seems that Which? is right, and large numbers of us - denied proper care by the shambles into which dentistry has fallen since new contracts were introduced in 2006 - are prising out our aching teeth with toothpicks. In Britain, in 2009.

Have you tried DIY dentistry? Share your experiences in the comments section below