I'm one of those people that have quite a few 'fillings' - cavity fillers - in my teeth.

I suppose it's not surpirsing given my liking for lollies when I was younger ... alright, and now still that I'm older.

And even a bit more surpising when I think back to being able to buy sweets from the shop across the road from the school and eat them under the 'lolly tree', the only place in the school grounds where lollies were allowed to be 'legally' consumed ... which was also straight across from the 'murder house' (school dental clinic) - aptly named really given the foot pedal driven drills they used to have, that slowed down each time a tooth was drilled - without any pain killing injections!

Anyway, enough of my childhood memories, because I have noticed something else lately that may have not only reduced the number of fillings I got, but also made me chew my food better for the benefit of my digestive system.

You see, I, like most other people I know, was taught that the front teeth, the 'incisors', were for biting into food and the back teeth (molars) were for chewing.

However, I have noticed that the front teeth are also very good for chewing food with two interesting results.

ONE: I don't get food scrunched into the gaps between my back teeth, nor does food get ground into the valleys on the top of my molars - which is what I reckon was the main cause of my early life fillings.

TWO: I chew my food more by using the front of my tounge, in conjunction with the backside (in particular) of my incisors, to produce a highly effective rolling/munching effect.

This second result also meant I tended to chew my food more before swallowing it, because - I didn't put so much food in my mouth AND the food in my mouth wasn't so easy to swallow (or 'fall dawn my throat') before it was chewed enough to do so.

I now wonder how many fillings or stomach aches I would not have to have had, if I had used this different chewing technique earlier in my life.

And now, how many fillings and stomach aches other people could avoid by chewing differently.

But then again, dentists and doctors may see a different chewing technique as scientifically unproven - or perhaps dentists with their loss of 'fillings-needed' clientele since flouridation of 'civilised' water supplies, don't need another major societal change to deal with.