Wasting your teeth in love for Soft drinks?



For many of us, a glass of soft drink has become a part of our meals, whereas there are others who are hooked on to sodas throughout the day. While a sip of it can be very tasteful and refreshing, it can cause tooth decay and erosion.

Believe it or not, some even consider it to be a style statement to drink sodas in place of water, but I urge you to think over it once. Can you believe that every ingredient of a soft drink is against your oral well-being?

A 300 ml bottle of soft drink contains more than 10 teaspoons of Sugar, which is as detrimental for an obese patient as much it is injurious to your teeth. Tooth Decay is caused by sugar, simple.  The bacteria in the mouth use this sugar for their metabolism, and the by -product of this process leads to formation of acid. This acid in turn causes demineralization of the tooth, consequently dental caries (or tooth decay). Click here to read more about Dental Caries!

Diet soda saves you from the above affect of sugars but they contain Phosphoric Acid and Citric Acid.  Most soft drinks are acidic, with pH of 3.0 or even lower. Drinking acidic drinks over a long period of time and continuous sipping can erode the tooth enamel.

Most sodas contain Caffeine in addition to sugar and acids.  The caffeine is a great stimulant that many of us like, but it dries out your mouth.  Salivation helps washing away of the sugar and bacteria, which is affected adversely when consuming large volume of Caffeine. People who combine caffeinated sodas and smoking (a disastrous recipe), can anticipate rampant tooth decay.

Sipping on a beverage is probably like stoking the fire of tooth decay.  It would be better to drink the soda promptly and then rinse your mouth with water to wash away the sugars that the plaque loves.  Don’t underestimate the value of rinsing your mouth with water. While use of bottle water is in vogue, but it is probably the second best choice as it does not contain fluoride.

I came across one interesting video the other day, though unrelated to this blog topic, but is an interesting one.

Quick Fact: It has also been suggested that brushing teeth right after drinking soft drinks should be avoided as this can result in additional erosion to the teeth due to the presence of acid.

Drinking through a straw is advised as the drink is then swallowed from the back of the mouth and does not come into contact with the teeth as much. Otherwise, I strongly recommend limiting the use of sodas.

Youngistaan is informed, isn’t it?

About the author:

Dr. Payal Chaudhuri B.D.S., M.D.S.

The author of this article is a Registered Dental Practitioner in India.

She is also associated with a Dental College in Gurgaon, India.

E-mail: dr.payal@hotmail.com