In my pharmacy class, our teacher asked of us this question: “What types of sodas are the worst for you?” We, of course, responded with the usual phrases. “Caffeinated! High-Calorie! Mountain Dew!” But we were all wrong.
Even though Mountain Dew does contain the most amounts of caffeine and sugar per can, it turns out that the sodas that we thought were actually good for us are our main enemies in the Soda-Pop world. Unfortunately, these soda enemies are actually diet sodas. It’s kind of ironic, in a way. You drink diet cokes in order to not gain calories, and in effect not lose weight. But little did we know that each can of diet coke that we consume is contributing to a significant decline in dental health, and those that are especially affected are primarily children, who have under-developed teeth and enamels that are not yet one hundred percent complete. Children who drink an excessive amount of any kind of soda have a higher percentage of cavities, unfortunately.
Soda, or pop (what have you…) is, as you know, a carbonated, acidic drink that is sweetened. There’s the normal type of soda, and then those diet ones that are sweetened with artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame. When you drink large amounts of diet soda, the enamel on your teeth is negatively affected. The acids in the soda produce dental erosions within the teeth. The sugar in the sodas, of course, is terrible for your teeth, but these acids are even worse. When the acids and sugars eat away at the enamel of the teeth, the teeth are left very vulnerable to cavities. The PH of diet and regular sodas range on a scale from 2.47 to 3.35. That is very acidic. Your mouth’s natural PH is about 6.2 to 7.0, which is considered alkaline (not acidic, but neutral for the most part.) Anything that enters your mouth with a PH of 5.2 to 5.5 or below will cause erosion to begin happening on the hard enamel of your teeth. Some sodas are equipped with citric acids, as well as phosphoric, which also contribute to the high acidity that is so harmful to your dental health. Citric acid is known to be especially erosive…
Experts recommend that when you drink soda, especially diet sodas, you should have them with a full meal to neutralize the effects of the acids on your teeth. There is a light at the end of this tunnel, though. If you drink your diet coke through a straw, the acids will bypass your teeth and be deposited near your throat, which will significantly reduce the chance of having your enamel eroded by that can of coke. While diet cokes can be effective in controlling your calorie intake, they can cause damage to your teeth, so be very careful to not ingest too much diet cokes, and also arrange regular appointments with your dentist so that he/she may find any damage done and help you to correct it.
