"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." 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.
Damage to the teeth was found after only 5 days of testing with both energy and sports drinks.
However the energy drinks caused twice as much damage to the teeth as the sports drinks.
Stay informed....and remember, prevention is the best medicine.
