Acidic beverages damage your teeth

How do acids in drinks and foods affect teeth??

The health of our teeth is very important to avoid unpleasant visits to the dentist. Many people pay attention to good dental hygiene. But eating the wrong foods or drinks can be a big threat to our teeth. Researchers have now found that consuming acidic drinks, such as fruit teas and flavored water, can damage teeth and enamel.

Researchers at King's College London found that acidic drinks hurt teeth and enamel. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "British Dental Journal" (BDJ).

Study included 300 subjects

If you like to consume fruit tea and flavored water between meals, it can cause problems with the teeth and damage the enamel, as these beverages greatly increase the risk of acid erosion. The experts noted that they examined the diet of 300 people with severe erosive tooth wear for their study. It was clear that the problem increased when people consumed more of these drinks.

Risk increases if the drinks remain in the mouth too long

Liqueurs, fruit teas, diet drinks, sweetened drinks and flavored water contain acids that cause damage to the teeth. If people drink these drinks over a five-minute period and / or keep the drinks in their mouths for longer before swallowing, the risk of dental erosion (enamel degeneration) increases massively, the researchers warn.

How strong is the consumption of acidic drinks??

Keeping these drinks in your mouth for too long, or snacking on acidic fruit piece by piece for a few minutes, rather than eating it completely, will damage your teeth, explains author. Saoirse O'Toole from King's College London. The scientists found that people who consumed drinks twice a day, such as water with a piece of lemon or fruit flavored tea, suffered more than eleven times more moderate or severe dental erosion. This number was halved, however, if the drinks were taken with meals. Sugar-free soft drinks were both erosive and sugar sweetened, according to the report. And pickled foods or products with vinegar can also lead to tooth erosion.

Which drinks contain the harmful acids?

Tooth-damaged drinks included, for example, fruit teas, flavored water, diet drinks, sweetened drinks and alcohol. On the other hand, water, tea, coffee, milk and carbonated water did not contain any harmful acids, explain the physicians.

Acidic beverages should be consumed with meals

Eating acidic drinks during a meal helps to minimize the damage, because chewing meals increases the production of saliva. Acidic drinks should also be consumed as quickly as possible at one go, and not be drunk over a longer period of time only. Especially so-called soft drinks should be taken only together with meals, the experts advise. A straw can also prevent the acid in the drinks from coming in contact with the teeth. The consumption of water, nutritious drinks such as milk and foods such as cheese after acidic food or drink is quite advisable to neutralize this, explain the doctors on.

What does tooth erosion do??

Dental erosion is a progressive loss of the hard substance (tooth enamel) of a tooth by chemical processes, which have no bacterial effect. The acidity of food or drink supports the tooth erosion more than the sugar content (bacteria, together with sugar, caries cause but no increased tooth erosion). Diet, lifestyle and some medications can increase the risk additionally. The use of fluoridated toothpastes or rinses and proper nutrition can reduce the risk of tooth erosion.

Many children and the elderly suffer from dental erosion

Recent research shows that many children and adolescents have tooth surface loss due to dental erosion. Dental erosion is also considered to be a major cause of tooth damage in older generations. (As)