Simon Cowell, Hilary Duff, Oprah Winfrey, Brad and Ange, Britney and Jessica Simpson have all done it. What - did you think their gleaming white grins were all home-grown? You can't airbrush everything on those faces, you know, and Tom Cruise definitely didn't get his pearly whites via a Scientology experiment, no matter what he might be telling us.

The Dental Spa embraces Dubai's philosophy of injecting a little glamour into everyday routine. If it's root canal or a simple buff and polish, you can count on this team of pros to whip your mouth back into brunch-guzzling, booze-swigging shape! My personal treatment of choice was an effort to bring me one step closer to celebsville - a ‘plasma power whitening treatment'. Er... that's not to say my 28 year old teeth were yellowing and rocking in their sockets, but hey, if celebs can go that extra mile for the perfect smile, then surely I could go half way with a little work? This is Dubai after all. Where else would the words ‘dental' and ‘spa' fit so lovingly and temptingly together?

I wasn't exactly fearless as I stepped through the door, even as the sound of trickling water over shiny stones caressed my ear-drums - a nice twist on the calming fish tank treatment, which generally fails to sooth those nerves in the face of a daunting NHS dentist back home.

As I sat down on the chair, little fishies swam in serenity on a plasma TV screen, and soothing music filled the air. My dental hygienist and whitening specialist, Hilary Browne, switched on the massager beneath me (I'm not even kidding!) as she explained the procedure - a clean, polish, then the actual treatment, involving pastes, lights and a whole lot of sucky, sucky noises from machines I preferred to leave out of my line of vision.

No worries there - as the chair reclined and I faced the ceiling, another TV above my head flickered into Friends mode. In another situation, this may well have been torturous in itself - stuck in a confined space, gazing up at repeats with no imminent escape route available, as someone prods your mouth with a metal probe. This motley crew will get to you wherever you are. Still, it's gotta be better than concentrating on the noise of a drill in your mouth, right?

No matter how you disguise it, no matter how you drape the name with fanciful frills, promises of luxury (and series two of Friends), the dentist is always gonna be the dentist, at the end of the day. But I have to say, my opinions - previously based on horrific, rushed procedures on the NHS back in Britain - were changed for the better. Within two hours, my teeth were five shades whiter, apparently, shining like new, having been flossed and glossed back into grinning glory. Having someone probe your mouth really doesn't have to be scary. And it doesn't have to hurt one bit!

As Joey, Ross and Rachel discussed a wedding gone awry, I skipped back down the stairs, smiling at everyone in freakish joy, awaiting my agent and next movie contract to roll up in a Mercedes. Then I settled for a taxi and tried to figure out how to spend my evening in the absence of red wine.

Plasma Power Whitening Treatment - AED 2,900 (inc take home DIY kit)

The Dental SPA ® on Jumeirah Beach Rd
P.O. Box 75921 Dubai - UAE

Tel: +971 4 395 2005