Teeth

[Grant]

During the Sixties, virtually all the Somalis I saw had great teeth. Even the elderly had full sets of mostly straight teeth. You heard of "ruumiis", but essentially nothing else. No other dental care.

Several people here have mentioned red or yellow teeth.
It seems to be a description of sick teeth, but I haven't a clue what condition is meant.

Did sugar become a greater part of the Somali diet and dental health fall apart?

[Advocator]

Ninyahow, my gums used to bleed, oneday I had enough and grabbed a niddle, cut a straight line across mu upper gum, followed by lower gum, I let it bleed for several hours...........when the wound healed, tadaa, it never bled again..........

[PragmaticGal]

Grant, the yellow or red teeth mentioned may refer to a reddish-brown specks or lines on the teeth. It's common in areas of Somalia and may be due to high fluoride content in the drinking water.

There's no doubt that Somalis generally have worst teeth than they did before. Sugar is to blame. In the baadiye, people will go for hours without eating anything at all, just chewing on a cadey. But now we can't do anything without something to eat or drink nearby, whether it's a sugary latte or a candy bar.

[Cheroke]

Khat is what's responsible for the reddish stains on the teeth. But as PragmaticGal said the yellowish is commonly known and could be caused by the fluoride content in the drinking water, given that our water has been polluted for gods knows how long..