A dental student has invented the world's first adult teether – to combat the agony of problem wisdom teeth.

Jeevan Boyal came up with the EZ Teether after spotting a baby sucking on a teething aid while he was suffering with his own painful wisdom teeth.

The 21-year-old University of Sheffield dentistry student had been surprised to discover that there was little help available for painful wisdom teeth. The baby in the pram inspired his idea for an adult teether.

He went away and designed his own device based on angles for the jaw and mouth set out in his dentistry textbooks. Now he is selling his device, trademarked as the EZ Teether, on his own website EZteether.com, at £12.99 each, as well as through online retailer Amazon.

While the teether contains no painkillers, the action of biting down on its rubber-like surface provides instant pain relief to irritable wisdom teeth. The device acts in the same fashion as a child's teething aid, and works by massaging the affected gums to ease discomfort.

Jeevan hopes the adult teether will be popular with other young adults and could also make a useful gift choice for parents keen to pack their sons and daughters off to university with everything they could possibly need.

The EZ Teether is 11 cm long with a plastic handle and a Santoprene biting surface. Each device weighs just 35 grams.

For more information about the EZ Teether device visit www.EZteether.com.