Dr Tamal Ray, best known as a finalist in the 2015 series of The Great British Bake Off, is to highlight the importance of oral hygiene in an episode of his new Channel 4 series.
Tamal, a qualified anaesthetist; and co-host Kate Quilton, will encourage viewers to take ownership of their healthcare, whilst busting some online health myths in the new series in the new series, Be Your Own Doctor.
‘The idea is to empower people to be a bit more knowledgeable about their own health’, explains Tamal.
‘We’re trying to give viewers a little window onto that, and direct them towards the good stuff.
‘Some of it is also about assumptions we make about common sorts of stuff.’
Owning oral healthcare
In the first episode of the series, Tamal explores the importance of good dental hygiene, by putting his own brushing skills to the test.
Tamal uses a disclosing agent to highlight missed areas after brushing his teeth – and his technique left a lot to be desired.
‘I’m really hot about brushing my teeth – at least I thought I was’, he says.
‘I do it for two minutes, I’ve got an electric toothbrush, I thought I’d do brilliantly on the test – and then the results came in, and I’d come up quite short.
‘So that can happen even when you try and do all the right stuff and you think you know what you’re talking about, you can still have something to learn.
‘So we’re just trying to give people a little bit more of an idea about their health.’
Meanwhile Kate concentrates on the celebrity fad of coconut oil ‘pulling’ in an effort to whiten teeth.
The episode brings home the important message of encouraging patient to pay attention to their brushing technique, and to take ownership of their dental health.
Be Your Own Doctor airs Monday 24 October at 8:30pm on C4.
