Dental Asia March/April 2024

Overcoming a personal
addiction by spreading
positivity on TikTok
By James Yau
On 8 May 2020, Rohit Roy uploaded his first
video to TikTok. His intention was simple.
Upload a video every day to keep himself
accountable in his progress of quitting fizzy
drinks. And with that, his iconic catchphrase —
“Hello everyone. No fizzy drinks for me today.”
— was born.
“At the time I came across TikTok for the first
time. The videos were in a short format so
it was easy to post. My thinking was that if
I posted a video every day and kept people
updated, it would provide the accountability
that I was looking for. And that was when I
chose to start posting on TikTok and social
media,” said Roy.
As the days passed and his streak kept going,
Roy’s videos reached more and more people,
view by view. Four years in, Roy’s journey has
reached day 1351, accumulating over 523,200
followers and 8.7 million likes at the time of
writing, inspiring many in the process with his
cheerful demeanor.
But according to Roy, his addiction started
long before his rise to social media fame since
the age of five in his native country. “Even
when I was India, I was heavily addicted to
fizzy drinks because I started at a very young
age. Since then, I have been having fizzy
drinks continuously,” he said, estimating that
he consumed about six fizzy drinks each day
at the peak of his addiction.
In December 2022, a global tax manual
for sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs)
published by the World Health Organization
highlighted the robust evidence associating
the consumption of SSBs with a growing
global burden of obesity and other
associated disease. In particular, increased
intake of SSBs is associated with increased
risk of dental caries, type 2 diabetes
mellitus and excess weight and obesity,
which in turn increase the risk of heart
disease, stroke, other cardiometabolic
conditions and some cancers.
Even though Roy was not affected by
serious health conditions, he was conscious
of the negative impacts through the weight
he gained. After many unsuccessful
attempts to kick the habit, with his longest
period off the drink at 45 days, that was
when the 45-year-old financial planner from
Melbourne took to social media with a new
game plan.
As dental professionals and organisations
across the globe celebrate World Oral Health
Day on 20 Mar and beyond, Dental Asia
speaks with the TikTok sensation on his
journey of overcoming addiction and sharing
positivity.
BEFORE AND AFTER
Roy credits the support he received online as
a large motivator in his journey as compared
to his previous attempts to quit his habit.
“When I started my journey, I thought I would
be craving fizzy drinks. That was why I said in
my first video that I will try to have one fizzy
drink every week. But that never happened
because when I started, I received so much
support from people which motivated me,”
Roy said. “To be honest, it was lucky for me to
get so much support.”
Not wanting to let his supporters down, Roy
made concerted changes to his daily habits
to ensure that he would not break his streak.
For instance, he was more careful about the
content of the beverages he consumed to
avoid any accidental consumption of fizzy
drinks. This included not just sugary drinks,
but carbonated drinks as well.
12 DENTAL ASIA MARCH / APRIL 2024