] ]And could Mrs Clay have done anything?

] Most dentistry of the time was either operative - extractions or dealing with cavities - or prosthetic - those Waterloo teeth!

] However, there was a tiny amount of what we would now call orthodontics. I have an illustration of a device for correcting misaligned teeth, from a text first published in 1757, by the french Royal dentist, Etienne Bourdet. It is a flat ivory arch, with threads for pulling the teeth into line. I do not know if it worked, and I am sure that Penelope Clay would not have had access to such treatment, even if she wanted it. I suspect that she was actually just glad that the tooth was sound and still there!