We often hear stories of celebrities who insure parts of their bodies against loss or injury – dancers may insure their legs, singers can insure their voices and I have even heard of tasters who insure their palates. So what about tasters insuring their teeth?

As a former wine buyer I used to take every possible precaution to protect myself against colds and flu, as in the short term, it would simply be impossible to taste, but what about teeth? By coincidence Angela and I are both undergoing some significant dental work at the moment (no, we haven’t been knocking each other’s teeth out), and I have to tell you that it has had a notable effect on our ability to taste easily. Fortunately is has not prevented us from tasting completely, but has meant that we have both had to modify our techniques.

Angela has had a mouthful of plastic for more than a year now, and then recently, just for good measure, they have added a bit of wire too. My treatment, an implant, has meant that I have been given a denture to wear for the last ten weeks, as the dentist waits for the bone in my jaw to recover.

Whilst I cannot “shpeak” for Angela, I can tell you that I find it quite “imposhible” to taste with a denture, which means that the only option is to remove it. However, this in itself causes another problem. When I try to draw air over my tongue to intensify the taste, the wine simply tries to escape through the gap in my teeth! Stupid I know, but significant…. Of course, I still have the ability to taste, but in the short term (until the work is complete) I have had to modify my physical technique. Not so easy after decades of doing it in my sleep!