Sipping Your Teeth Away
September 30, 2008
Would you eat 11 teaspoons of sugar at dinner time? Or would you eat 44 teaspoons of sugar throughout the day? Would you brush your teeth with battery acid a couple times a day? I hope you answered no. But you might be surprised to find out that some of you are doing, essentially, that. How, you ask? Soda, fruit juices, sour candy and power drinks can contain high acid levels and often high quantities of sugar. For instance, a 12 ounce serving of Pepsi contains 11 teaspoons of sugar and has a pH (acidity level) of 2.5. Battery acid has a pH of 1.0. Neutral pH is 7. (See http://www.21stcenturydental.com/smith/pH_drinks.htm for more values.)
So what does this mean to the welfare of your teeth? Enamel begins to soften at a pH around 5. The lower the pH number, the more destructive it is to the enamel. So if your drink lowers your pH below 5, degradation occurs. The higher the sugar content, the more food the bacteria have, producing acidic by-products that additionally destroy the tooth, i.e., form cavities. Saliva has the ability to buffer these acids and neutralize the pH. However, if you sip these drinks throughout the day, your saliva’s buffering effect is limited and may be ineffective. Each acid attack lasts about 20 minutes and starts over with every sip.