When you drink alcohol, it’s absorbed into
your bloodstream and affects every part of your body. In the long term, this
can put your health at serious risk.
Alcohol can wreak havoc on your digestive system,
from your mouth all the way to your colon.
Alcohol abuse can damage the salivary glands and
irritate the mouth and tongue, leading to gum disease, tooth decay, and even
tooth loss.
Heavy drinkers face higher risk of mouth, throat,
and esophagus cancers.
Alcohol dehydrates, and when you're dehydrated you
don't have a lot of saliva in your mouth. Inside saliva there are anti
bacterial agents which buffer acid, but when people are dehydrated these agents
disappear, and so get more decay and erosion. Also, if you vomit after
drinking alcohol, you're going to have problems with acid reflux. The affects
are a bit like that of a bulimic patient, where you have teeth being eroded
because of the acid coming out of your mouth.
Drink water during or after you have the drinks.
Anything that's going to dilute the acid is good, and water will dilute the
acid, so if you're having a glass of wine have a glass of water with it. If
you've had a big night out, drink lots of water the next day, too. Chewing gum
is OK because it stimulates saliva, but it must be sugar free - and water is
better. Teeth are porous so they will pick up stains from red wine, coffee,
spicy foods, so water is good for this, too. It's quite normal for teeth to
stain, so you can use whitening toothpaste, but the only way to whiten properly
is to do it at the dentist and don't brush your teeth straight away after
drinking - it's the worst time, you're going to be brushing away the enamel.
Wait 60 minutes because your enamel's been softened by the acid you've been
given, and you don't want to make it worse. These things you have to do to not go causing damage to your
teeth.
I
drink alcohol but not too much, not all the weekends, because when you drunk a
lot the day after is terrible and you feel bad, so I prefer to do it in a responsible
way.