I’m sure you remember when you were young, hearing crazy stories of boys and girls getting stuck together while they were making out, both wearing braces. Times have changed. Now invisible braces are all the rage and priced low enough that most who can already afford braces, can afford the less intrusive kind.

We must bid adieu to those ugly large pieces of surgical steel that once so fondly led their wearer to be known as metal mouth, railroad track, brace face and I’m sure some other equally creative names. No worries, though since there are folks who still regard such apparatus as some sort of status symbol.

Incorporating grills made from gold or platinum with precious gems of all kinds, from rubies right up to diamonds. However, as is often the case with necessary evil turned to cosmetic frivolity; these flashy adornments do little as far as actually straightening your teeth. Nevertheless, it shows how something unpopular can suddenly be reborn as fashionable trend.

That’s what has happened with body piercing. It has moved from fringe to mainstream. How can you know that it’s no longer so hardcore? Health Reporter Jim Ritter writes in the Chicago Sun Times, it must be normal since we’ve just seen it on TV. Once something is on the idiot box, it has to be commonplace.

In last night’s episode (10/19/06) of Grey Anatomy, a divorced couple becomes embarrassingly stuck together when his Prince Albert gets stuck on her IUD. I won’t give away the plot, but what is interesting is that these weren’t some young punks portraying this fictional mishap. That actually makes the tale more believable it would seem.

James Weber, medical liaison for the professional piercers association, explains that People with piercings generally get them in their eyebrows, nose, ears, lips, tongue, navel, nipples and genitals. They typically are 18 to 25, although those who wear genital jewelry tend to be older. Who knew that last part?

Therefore, the next time you go home, you might not want to ask to borrow your mother’s earring. Who knows where they’ve been! It might also explain why dad never seems to make it right into the bowl.