Nearing the end of a five-year-stretch of dental treatment in Collins Street, Melbourne, we've chuffed down every couple of months or so to achieve a mouth the right size to fit all of my baby's pearly whites.

A series of plates with gears regularly turned at home have allowed Tiani's beautiful smile to emerge, without any teeth being removed or her jaw broken - a proposed solution we passionately avoided.

Last weekend we took a cheeky day off school and booked an overnight stay to make our visit.

Only after an early start, long drive and high rise parking adventure did the text arrive to advise us that Saturday's appointment was cancelled due to our dentist's ill health.

Very strange for a bustling business bursting with dentists.

Immediately telephoning to check our options, a recorded message greeted me with news that the business was also shut Friday.

Alarm bells. I suspected our treatment plan - pre-paid to completion - had just evaporated.

As our accommodation was also pre-paid, I thought we'd pop in anyway. There was no good news.

As the lift doors slid open we faced a wall of glass housing our perfectly-well provider speaking calmly to someone who looked like a security guard, while our generally bubbly receptionist was at her desk looking extremely sick indeed.

We asked if she was okay and she started crying; she definitely was not okay.

Tiani and I delivered hugs and kind words and exited stage left as the only information delivered, "the business is closed", took some time to penetrate my mind.

We wandered the city feeling a little lost and confused.

Obviously we cleared our heads with a high tea and mutual sympathy, as Tiani wondered what was to become of her teeth and the plate she continues to wind.

A sales assistant thought we should be able to get our money back.

A make-up artist in a store understood the dilemma as her daughter's braces provided a beautiful outcome.

The hotel receptionist felt sure we would find future comfort in some form and gifted us a drinks voucher at the restaurant to speed our recovery.

At this stage we definitely have Nobraces.