3) Don’t brush your teeth immediately after eating fruit or drinking juice or soft drink. The acid will soften your teeth, which means immediate brushing potentially brushes away dental enamel.

4) When you do consume sweet food and drink, follow it up with cheddar cheese. The cheese helps neutralise your saliva minimising the risk of tooth decay.

5) Your saliva flow slows down over night so try not to eat sweet food just before going to bed. It takes at least four hours of daytime saliva flow to neutralise the acid caused by plaque bacteria using sugar from the food you eat

6) Vitamin C is an essential vitamin to maintain gum health and prevent scurvy

7) Consume lots of naturally fibrous fresh fruit and vegetables. The fibre will help to naturally remove plaque acid in much the same way a toothbrush does

8) Make nutritious snack choices, such as fruit, vegetable sticks, nuts and healthy dips. Homemade popcorn seasoned with sea salt and organic butter is a healthier alternative to packaged potato chips.

For more details on how dental decay occurs see our blog on our website.