An alarming increase in the consumption of sports and energy drinks, especially among adolescents, is causing irreversible damage to teeth, according to a new study from The Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine.
The high acidity levels in the drinks erode tooth enamel, the glossy outer layer of the tooth.
The study appears in General Dentistry, clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry.
Dr. Poonam Jain
“Young adults consume these drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are ‘better’ for them than soda,” says Poonam Jain, BDS, MS, MPH, lead author of the study. “Most of these patients are shocked to learn that these drinks are essentially bathing their teeth with acid.”
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Researchers examined the acidity levels in 13 sports drinks and nine energy drinks. They found that the acidity levels can vary between brands of beverages and flavors of the same brand. To test the effect of the acidity levels, the researchers immersed samples of human tooth enamel in each beverage for 15 minutes, followed by immersion in artificial saliva for two hours. This cycle was repeated four times a day for five days, and the samples were stored in fresh artificial saliva at all other times.
“This type of testing simulates the same exposure that a large proportion of American teens and young adults are subjecting their teeth to on a regular basis when they drink one of these beverages every few hours,” says Dr. Jain.
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The researchers found that damage to enamel was evident after only five days of exposure to sports or energy drinks, although energy drinks showed a significantly greater potential to damage teeth than sports drinks. In fact, the authors found that energy drinks caused twice as much damage to teeth as sports drinks.
Damage caused to tooth enamel is irreversible, and without the protection of enamel, teeth become overly sensitive, prone to cavities, and more likely to decay.
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Reference:
Gen Dent. 2012 May;60(3):190-7. “A comparison of sports and energy drinks-Physiochemical properties and enamel dissolution.” Jain P, Hall-May E, Golabek K, Agustin MZ.
