Are Soft Drinks Destroying My Teeth?

Soft drinks can harm teeth in two ways.

Soft drinks are acidic. They have carbon dioxide which combines with water to make carbonic acid. That lowers the pH and creates an acidic environment in your mouth.

Soft drinks contain sugar. The sugar interacts with the bacteria in your mouth, which will turn the sugar into lactic acid. Lactic acid eats away at your teeth.

There are several things a person can do to help reduce the damage to teeth when drinking sugary beverages.

First, we should avoid sipping and drink the beverage quickly. This reduces the exposure of our teeth to acid and sugar.

Second, we should chase every sip with tap water. This interrupts the acid and sugar activity in our mouth. The reason for using tap water is that tap water has fluoride in it, which helps revitalize the tooth.

Diet soft drinks are better in the sense that they don’t contain the sugar that feed the bacteria. However, diet soft drinks are very acidic because of the carbonation.

Fruit juices and sports drinks can also be harmful. They generally have a citrus flavor, which is associated with a low pH. They also will contain high amounts of sugar.

You don’t have to give up soft drinks. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t have to do with the quantity of soft drinks you consume, either. It’s the duration of the exposure in the mouth. So, if you’re sipping slowly and savoring every sip, that’s worse than if you drink it quickly.

Always remember that by taking a sip of tap water, you reduce the damage done to your teeth. So, keep the tap water handy.