“Vegetables are high in vitamins and minerals. They’re crunchy, they’ve got a positive effect on the teeth; there’s really nothing negative about them.” “Raw carrot sticks, raw celery sticks – they’re great snacks because they’re totally unprocessed. They’re not going to clean your teeth like a toothbrush, but they’re not going to leave residue on your teeth, which is the main thing.”
5. Chewing gumDr. Alldritt explains, “Chewing a piece of sugar-free gum for 20 minutes [after eating] produces more saliva and helps to neutralise the acidity of your mouth much faster than would [occur] naturally, so it’s a healthy thing to do.”
If chewing gum isn’t your thing, hard cheese produces a very similar effect, so slice a sliver of Parmesan instead.
6. Hard CheesesExcellent news for anyone who prefers cheese to a chocolate mousse for dessert, hard cheese gets the dental tick of approval.
“I’m talking about cheddar as opposed to camembert,” Dr. Alldritt confirms. “As well as containing calcium and proteins that are beneficial (like most dairy foods), the actual process of eating hard cheese stimulates your saliva flow, which adds more neutralisation, more calcium, more phosphate, more buffers.”
Because it’s so hard, chewing a piece of Parmesan cheese “is actually really good for your teeth.”
