BBC Antiques Roadshow expert squirms as guest uses old tool to demonstrate 'irrational fear'

An Antiques Roadshow expert was left visibly awkward when a guest brought in an item that triggered her childhood "irrational fear".

The daytime series sees specialists meet with their guests and their unusual items from around the country and give their belongings an appraisal upon further investigation.

It was expert Judith Miller's turn to speak to a guest about an item that was once used by dentists but unfortunately for her, she couldn't quite shake off a childhood fear.

She began: "Now when I was growing up in the Scottish borders, I had an irrational fear of the dentist."

"And when I saw this today, it came rushing back. Tell me about this?"

The guest began to explain: "Well this is a Georgian tooth key, it's for extracting molar teeth -", when an awkward Judith interrupted with a laugh.

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"It's the best, my dentist assures me. It actually belongs to a very good friend of mine and he assures me it's what all the very best dentists were using in the mid 1700s."

Judith nodded "Yep", warily as he said that she might be "interested" to see how it works for herself.

She laughed awkwardly again: "I know what you're going to do now", clearly trying to hold back her feelings.

During a quirky demonstration on , a guest explained how an antique dental device worked, saying to his friend: "He's been teaching me how to use this and the first thing you have to do is to make the patient say 'ah'."

Expert Judith was game for a laugh, responding with: "Alright, OK, ah", and even got the crowd involved.

The guest, brandishing the archaic dental tool, instructed: "Right so 'ah', and then you pick it up and you insert it very gently like this and you sort of wind it round like this -"

A concerned Judith interjected with a flutter of her hands, asking: "Is it going to make a noise? ".

Upon confirming that the device indeed squeaked, the guest demonstrated, eliciting a grimace from Judith who exclaimed: "Aw! I mean -" before he successfully extracted the faux tooth, quipping: "And the patient collapses."

Unfazed, the guest humorously added: "And the patient collapses but you can put it back in quite quickly and do it over again. It's quite easy really."

After enduring the cringe-worthy presentation, Judith delivered her expert opinion: "Well you know something, it's absolutely Georgian, I would think 1760 to 1780 and it is what all the upmarket dentists would use."

She estimated its value at £60 to £80 but playfully offered double to avoid being the device's next victim.

Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One and BBC .