Happy Dry January, everyone! If you have chosen to cut out alcohol this month - well done! While the best thing for your body would be cutting out all alcohol altogether, this isn’t always realistic. Trying out  a month of abstinence can also be hugely helpful in detoxing your body, and what better way to start the new year than happy and healthy? Information about oral health and alcohol often talk about the damages that alcohol causes in the mouth (for more information on this, see our previous blog!) but we thought it would be a good bit of positive reinforcement to talk about the many benefits of cutting and reducing alcohol intake! So read on to find out how taking a break in January actually benefits your oral health…

Hydration Station Activated

As a diuretic, alcohol promotes water loss from the body through urine, which also affects your saliva production - that’s why it sometimes gives you a dry mouth feeling. Saliva is needed to keep your mouth clean and clear from plaque-forming bacteria, sugars and acids. When you reduce or stop alcohol intake, your mouth immediately starts producing more of that much-needed saliva, helping your daily oral health!

Secret Sugars

When we think about cutting back on sugar, our mind usually goes straight to the obvious culprits: sweets, cakes, and snacks. However, alcohol - especially beer and wine - is also packed full of sugar, as well as spirit mixes, especially if they're carbonated. So reducing your alcohol intake also massively reduces how much sugar you’re putting into your body, which is not only better for your overall health but also a huge help in protecting your teeth from cavities and tooth decay!

Pearly Whites

Some alcoholic beverages, especially wine, but also beer, can actively discolour your teeth, leaving them with a brown or yellow hue. Taking a break from alcohol helps to minimise discolouration and maintain your sparkling smile!

What if I’m not dry this January?

If you’re partaking in Dry January, it doesn’t mean all is lost! There are some simple steps you can take to protect your teeth from whatever you are drinking:

• Use a straw! This helps to bypass liquids hitting your teeth, and minimises the amount of alcohol in your mouth.
• Chew sugar-free gum! This will help to increase your saliva production and counteract the diuretic effects of alcohol.
• Drink water! In order to help your body to create more saliva, as well as washing your mouth out from any lingering sugars or acids, take a sip of water between drinks.
• Maintain your routine! If you know you will be continuing to drink alcohol, it’s important to make sure you’re keeping up with your daily brushing and flossing routine. Keep a Sonisk Pulse portable sonic toothbrush on you for a quick brush between drinks, or to ensure that you maintain your evening routine if you happen to stay out!

We often advise people to eat cheese to strengthen their oral health over the festive season - but why? Can a cheese course replace your evening brushing routine? And will any cheese do, or are some cheeses better than others? Read on to find out how cheese helps to maintain your dental health and hygiene, and which cheeses to stock up on for your end of meal cheese board!

How and Why is Cheese Good for Your Teeth?

Phosphate and calcium can be found in any dairy-based cheese, and these work together to strengthen your teeth and bones in the long term. Some cheeses are also good for the immediate health of your mouth and help to neutralise your oral pH levels by increasing your saliva production and coating the surface of your teeth in a film of calcium, which helps to strengthen the enamel!

Choose Your Cheese

The best cheeses for your immediate oral health are hard, aged cheeses such as Cheddar, Gouda, Blue, Swiss or Brie - which is already a wonderfully varied selection for a good cheese course! You can also go for lower-fat alternatives like Parmigiano Reggiano, which is both diet and dental friendly. Soft cheeses are calcium rich, and include anything from mozzarella to soft goats cheese -  these cheeses won’t activate your saliva as well as hard cheeses, but you will still reap the long-term benefits!

Pairing Problems

A pitfall to watch out for is how you pair your cheese - it’s all well and good to nibble on a cube of cheddar, but if you consume it atop a salty cracker you risk losing out on the neutralising effects of the cheese by filling your mouth with bacteria-forming starch! The same issue goes for a sweet pairing: there's nothing quite like a hard cheese eaten with a smear of quince jam, but the latter is full of sugars and acids that can cause havoc in your mouth! We recommend starting off your cheese course with a starchy base or sweet accompaniment of your choice, but then ending with a simple cube of unadulterated cheese to neutralise any harmful ingredients that might have made their way into your mouth!

The Brushing Dilemma

Now to the question on everyone’s lips - does a cube of hard, aged cheese at the end of a meal mean you can skip your evening brushing routine? The answer is easy: No. Cheese is absolutely not a substitute for your oral health routine - otherwise we’d all be nibbling on Gouda before bed! While cheese does help to maintain your dental strength over the long term and balance your oral pH in the short term, there really is nothing more important than a consistent oral hygiene routine. As with any other food or drink, ideally you should wait 30 minutes after eating cheese and then brush and floss with a good quality toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste! 

When thinking about the perfect gift for any person, it’s important to find the balance between what they want or need, and what you think they want or need! With what feels like endless options it can be easy to get caught up in the glittering consumerism of the season, but you risk wasting money on novelty items which are discarded immediately after the holidays, causing damage not only to your bank account but also to our beloved planet! Read on for our checklist of questions to ask yourself to help in choosing the perfect gift for your friends and loved ones…

Will it last?

Consumable gifts can be great as they show that you’ve thought about your recipients’ tastes - but unless they come in a special presentation box or tin, these gifts can be too short-lived, and even create longer term issues! A box of Christmas chocolates might be delicious, but it could also cause cavities and tooth decay in the long run, and that’s not really the best way to show someone you care for them! Be thoughtful with consumable goods: think about things that are healthy, and go for eco-friendly packaging!

Is it useful?

A karaoke machine can be great fun on Christmas day, but might gather dust for the rest of the year after - and with many karaoke apps available directly on our smartphones, is it really necessary to add more clutter? When thinking of the perfect gift remember to consider how much usage the recipient will get out of it - the more useful the better!

Do they already have it?

Buying someone duplicates of possessions they already own is a bit pointless, but upgrading something they love and use often can be the perfect gift! Avid readers might enjoy an e-reader rather than adding more volumes to their collection, for instance. Think about the person for whom you are buying and what they get the most use out of in their home, and then all you need to do is help them to level up!

The ideal gift

The perfect gift to cover all the above is, of course, an electric toothbrush. Will it last? Yes, absolutely - a good quality electric toothbrush lasts for years, and only needs the heads replacing, making it a long-lasting gift. Is it useful? Absolutely! Oral health is imperative for absolutely everyone, making an electric toothbrush not only the perfect gift, but a valuable one for absolutely anyone! Do they already have it? The large majority of people already have toothbrushes, but these are most often the manual kind, which eventually splay out and need replacing. An electric toothbrush is not only an improvement in terms of dental hygiene, but also reduces waste and helps to protect our planet from excessive plastic pollution! Check out our full range of Sonisk Pulse portable toothbrushes, with a wide selection of colours and extra low price point, there’s something there for everyone!