Your Smile Could Benefit Too!

New Year's resolutions are excellent goals to have to start your year off with positive change. For some people cutting out meat, sugar or bread for the month is a really difficult thing to do and therefore a wonderful goal. For some people, exercising every day for a whole month is a really great thing to aim for.

For others, cutting out the booze is how they wish to spend January to enjoy benefits such as losing a few pounds, avoiding hangovers and of course, getting to the end feeling proud about overcoming a tricky challenge. Cutting out alcohol for the month is also known as 'Dry January' and with millions of people doing the challenge this year, it is by far the most popular goal to have when it comes to New Years Resolutions.

Alcohol And How It Affects The Body

If you are participating in Dry January, your Egham dentist wants to help you have even more reason to continue on your quest for sobriety. First though, lets help you take a look at some of the reasons that may already be on your mind when it comes to cutting out the drink:

• You seek a detox following lots of parties in December
• You want to cut out hangovers which have been causing issues in your life
• Alcohol has caused an issue with your personal or professional life
• You want a challenge
• You want to lose a little bit of weight
• You want to save money
• You're looking to improve your health
• You don't like yourself when you've been drinking

Each and every reason is absolutely unique to each person and for one person sobriety for a whole month can be a huge challenge, and for others it's a really great addition to a month where they reboot their health. When it comes to your health, cutting out alcohol is hugely beneficial. This is particularly true if you are drinking in excess, or perhaps bypassing government guidelines on alcohol consumption.  There are many potential risks for the body as a result of drinking more than you should, here are a few examples:

Cancer

Lots of increased cancer risks are associated with drinking regularly including mouth cancer, stomach cancer and colon cancer.

Liver Problems

The liver is the part of the body often most affected by excessive alcohol intake. One of the issues with the different stages of liver damage is that symptoms don't tend to occur until a lot of damage has already been done. So whilst you drink regularly you may continue on without knowing your liver is being harmed.

Sleeping Problems

Alcohol can help you quickly go to sleep, but it doesn't guarantee that you get a good quality of sleep once you're in the sleep cycle. What can happen is you spend more time in the type of sleep stage that is not restful. If this type of sleep occurs more often than it should because of drinking, you may find you are tired and sleep deprived eventually.

Obesity Risk

Alcohol is loaded with sugar which makes those who consume it regularly, particularly the highest sugar drinks like fruit cider, at a risk of obesity and the related health risks.

Tummy Problems

Alcohol is known to cause acid reflux and to irritate the lining of the stomach causing tummy ache and pains, and in the worst possible case (and with excessive drinking habits), it can cause bleeding inside the stomach.

These are just some of the known issues related to the health of the body and how it can be affected by alcohol consumption.

Your Smile And Your Drinking Habits

As you continue to do well throughout Dry January with your alcohol aversion, you likely have at least some of the health reasons above on your mind to help you remain on the path to success. Knowing about potential health risks like cancer and its link to alcohol consumption, means that the health of your smile may not be on your mind throughout your sobriety. However, it probably is important that you know that there is a strong link between excessive alcohol consumption and your oral health, and more reasons to stick to your New Years goals can only be a good thing. Here at your Egham dentist we have all the right treatments and facilities to support your oral health throughout any change in habits. We also believe strongly in giving our patients plenty of useful information so they can be as in control of their own oral health habits and plans as possible.

So how do your smile and drinking habits link together?

Drinking alcohol does have a direct link to your oral health. From slight adverse effects on your daily hygiene regime, to potentially contributing to your risk of life-altering diseases like cancer, here are just some of the ways excessive drinking can affect your oral health:

• A drop in dental hygiene habits - caused by regularly forgetting to brush the teeth twice a day because of late nights and hangovers
• A rise in oral cancer risk - as alcohol is known to contribute to your risk of various oral and throat cancers. Regular checkups with your Egham dentist ensure that any oral cancer symptoms are spotted quickly, contributing to early diagnosis.
• The risk of losing teeth - as the high amounts of sugar in the drinks can cause tooth decay which may lead to tooth loss if not treated.
• Dental erosion - this can happen because the high amounts of acid in some alcoholic drinks, attacks the teeth over time.
• Dental damage - unfortunately regular drinkers are more likely to gain dental injury through violence as alcohol increases your likelihood of getting into fights.

Top Tips For Success

Hopefully we have already helped reaffirm your reasons for doing Dry January with the information offered so far, however, we want to go one step further and offer our top tips for success. We want to help all our patients reach their goals this 2019 however we can, including providing even more ways for you to stay free from alcohol if that is your plan for January.

Our top tips for continuing your sobriety are:

• Plan ahead for any situations you know will challenge your will power, such as hen do's or stag do's, parties or nights out.
• Give yourself a huge treat at the end of the month for staying sober, such as teeth whitening at Crown House Dental, which will continue to keep your teeth white with the right lifestyle habits, such as alcohol abstinence.
• Go to your checkup with your Egham dentist so that they can remind you about the negative effects of alcohol on your oral health, helping you stay on task.
• Keep a daily journal of your struggles and your successes.
• Keep tabs on how much money you are saving through not drinking.
• Notice when you would have been hungover and enjoy that fact that instead, you feel great.
• Write down why you are quitting on paper and stick those reasons everywhere to remind yourself of why you are doing Dry January.
• If alcoholism is an issue for you and you want help beyond Dry January, do get in touch with your GP for information about further support. You can also find lots of information on the Drinkaware website.

Keep Smiling This Dry January With An Appointment At Crown House Dental!

Please call our team on 01784432641 and we will be more than happy to book you an appointment at a time to suit you.

We can't help you abstain from alcohol on those nights out, or after a hard day at work, but we can help you keep your smile healthy and happy in January and beyond. Checkups with us will identify any damage alcohol may already have done, and check for signs of oral cancer. Any problems can be acted on quickly, leading to early diagnosis and the best possible outcome for treatment.