After crossing Iceland by bike, kayak and on foot, Ben Atkins explores the oral health risks of endurance sport.
When you think about the physical demands of endurance sport, teeth are unlikely to be high on the list. With months of training to complete, calories to replace, kit to test, hydration to manage and injuries to avoid, oral health can easily become an afterthought – and perhaps surprisingly, that proved true even for an experienced dentist.
Dr Ben Atkins, a Manchester-based general dental practitioner and former president and long-standing trustee of the Oral Health Foundation, recently completed the Rat Race Iceland Coast to Coast. The challenge involved around 110km a day of off-road mountain biking over five to six days, approximately two hours of kayaking and a 44km ultramarathon-style finish.
He had spent around two and a half years rebuilding his fitness after serious back problems affecting three discs stopped him running and, for a period, left him without feeling in one foot. His preparation covered training, nutrition, hydration and equipment. His kit included a Philips Sonicare DiamondClean 9900 Prestige sonic toothbrush, toothpaste and interdental cleaning aids. Yet there was one risk he says he had underestimated: ‘I overlooked it. And this is my world.’
