Take care of your pearly whites

A well known advert for chewing gum tells us to 'chew before it's too late'. Tooth paste adverts make us think we should have bright, white teeth.
Right from the start our mothers tell us that too many sweets will make our teeth rot and go black. It is rumoured that Queen Elizabeth 1 was very proud of her black teeth, it meant that she could afford to eat sugar which was considered a luxury treat. These days we are told that sugar is really bad for us, but we always knew it was bad for our teeth.
My brother and I were petrified of the dentist, even today his very name causes us to shiver. Poor man, he was only doing his job, drilling and filling our teeth. Modern equipment is less threatening, drills are light and bright.
My mother told us that our teeth, along with our eyesight were the most precious jewels we would ever own.
Today I had my teeth cleaned, and as usual for a short while I don't want to eat anything to spoil the effect, no coffee, tea or wine to stain their newly acquired freshness. As I sat there in the dentist's chair I remembered a poem from long ago which made me smile, by Spike Milligan (1918 - 2002)

English teeth, English teeth
Shining in the sun
A part of British heritage
Aye, each and every one.

English teeth. Happy teeth
Always having fun,
Clamping down on bits of fish
And sausages half done.
English teeth. Heroes teeth
Hear them click and clack
Let's sing a song of praise to them
Three cheers for the brown, grey and black.


So look after your teeth everybody and chew before it's too late.