It’s that time of the year again when thousands across the UK come together to banish booze for a whole month. For some, it’s a tough but worthwhile journey. While we all understand the negative effects on the liver that come from drinking alcohol, many people are uninformed about the disastrous problems it can cause your teeth. To get everyone up to scratch, here’s a few reasons why ditching alcohol can give your smile an extra shine.
More hydration
When you give up alcohol, you can wave goodbye to waking up with that horrible dry mouth the morning after a few drinks. As a diuretic, less alcohol means more hydration, which is perfect for your teeth. The more antibacterial saliva that surrounds your teeth and tongue, the healthier your oral hygiene will be.
Lower sugar intake
As you’ve heard many times from your dentist, cutting down your sugar intake is crucial for maintaining a high standard of dental health. One of the most effective methods of reducing your sugar consumption is quitting alcohol. Beer, wine and those spirit mixes especially are full to the brim with sugar, which can seriously harm your teeth with tooth decay.
Less discolouration
Who doesn’t want a sparkling white smile? Those couple of glasses of wine before bed every night might be standing in your way. Wine is full of pigment-producing chromogens that hold onto tooth enamel and stain our teeth. Beer drinkers should be wary too though, with teeth appearing brownish with too much intake.
Stop falling into old habits
One of the most appealing aspects of alcohol is the loosening up you feel after a long day. While we’d never downplay the importance of finding a stress reliever, one of the side effects of this loosening up is falling back into bad habits. Whether that’s ignoring your dental hygiene routine or trying to get away with a quick cigarette, booze can be the pathway back into those small sins.
Lower risk of mouth cancer
Sober for October was set up specifically to raise awareness and funds for the Macmillan Cancer Support; a fantastic charity giving support to those suffering from cancer. To put it bluntly, high alcohol consumption can drastically increase your chances of getting mouth cancer. With 50,000 people each year diagnosed with oral cancer in the UK, there’s never been a better reason to slow down your alcohol intake.
We understand that the odd glass of wine every now and then is one of life’s small pleasures. Even so, the benefits of over drinking for your teeth are too obvious to ignore. After you’ve finished Sober October, maintaining a low level of drinking will make all the difference for the health of your teeth.
