Dentists have been warning for years about the harmful effects of drinking soda, but their voice has been stifled by a zillion commercials, each more colorful and hip that then next.
But the ugly truth is that soda destroys the enamel on teeth by drastically altering the pH balance in the mouth, no more and no less.
For those who think that drinking with a straw offers more protection, they should bear in mind that the straw simply concentrates the corrosive effect on the back teeth, or molars, some of which are the most expensive and harder to treat.
Although soda has been at the center of many health initiatives for its effects, the fact that it destroys enamel has never been fully appreciated.
Soda in fact, is a remedy often used to decalcify things, including toilets and anchors. Obviously the factor is time, but if you drink many sodas a day, you might just be doing significant harm to your teeth.
Because children are starting to drink soda at earlier ages, and the concentration of the acidulant in soda has grown in the past decades, dentists now see more and more cases of tooth erosion.
The ADA has recently published a research that details how the average American drinks 44 gallons of soda pop a year. The acidulant agents in the soda pop, placed in the mix to allow it a long shelf life, are phosphoric and citric acid. These acidulant compounds change the acidity of the mouth allowing for bacteria to decay the tooth.
In those cases where the soda does not cause cavities, it will still erode the enamel enough to cause severe tooth sensitivity, sometime a bigger problem than cavities, since barring a very expensive enamel treatment, there is no cure for it.
One way to mitigate the corrosive effects of soda is to limit the number, drinking it during a meal, brushing teeth after drinking it, or at least rinsing the mouth with water. If at all possible chew gum, possibly with xylitol, to neutralize the corrosive effect after drinking the soda pop.
Partial Source : MNT/ 7.24.13
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