Eating too much fast food is bad for your health. So is eating food too fast.

Most people are missing one of life’s simple pleasures – eating. Our lives today are so busy, and the pace so fast, that when we even bother to sit down for a meal we’re done in under five minutes.

Eating Habits

Wolfing down food is a bad habit. The teeth are the first element of the digestive system. They, along with saliva, are designed to pulverize food before it goes to the stomach to continue the digestive process.

When large chunks of food reach the stomach the rest of the system has to work harder to break it down into nutrients; and not all the food’s benefit is absorbed before it is passed though the process.

Try the twenty chew rule. It will be hard at first. You will notice it might take you twenty or thirty minutes to eat a meal. The trick is to slow down. Relax your mind while your feed your body.

Enjoy your meal. Eat slowly. You will notice that the more you chew your food the more flavor it releases.

Try to make mealtime a real break time, and when you give your teeth enough time to do their job you are also giving your digestive system a break. Well chewed food is easier to digest and provides more nutrients to the body.

Please try to take thirty minutes to chew each bite twenty times. Think of mealtime as a real rest time and not as just a necessity. You will be surprised at the results.

Kathy B., RDH

Hi everyone!

You may have noticed that we’ve just revamped our website to make it a little easier to read on smart phones and tablets. We are also launching this new blog that we will be updating regularly. On it we will post interesting things we learn at our continuing education seminars, in the dental practice press and in the general news.

Anyone on the staff is encouraged to post to the blog.

Dentistry today is rapidly advancing. New techniques, tools and insights are emerging all the time. We like to stay current with the changes and we believe many of these changes will be of interest to our patients as well.

So check back here often. We hope to offer useful information that will help promote your dental and overall health.

Dr. Jill