Why Some Drinks You Might Have At Home Are Surprisingly Harmful To Your Dental Health
If you have listened to and understood the advice from dentists and other dental experts, you will know exactly what you need to do to keep your teeth and gums healthy. The list includes brushing and flossing every day, regular check-ups at your dentist, and to be conscious of what you eat or drink so that you avoid most of the foods and drinks which can cause the most harm to your dental health.
Whilst there seems to be little confusion over what brushing and flossing entail, nor what a regular visit to the dentist means, the same cannot be said about what foods and rinks are regarded as healthy or harmful to teeth. There are the usual suspects known to be harmful like sugary drinks, desserts, cakes, and sweets, for example, but when it comes to knowing what definitively constitutes what is healthy or not, there is some debate and some confusion.
One of the bigger areas where some confusion exists is drinks that are harmful to teeth. These are drinks you most people have at home, and you may too. So, what are the drinks that seem healthy for teeth, but which many dentists and dental health experts say can harm them? Here are three main culprits.
Sugar-Free Fizzy Drinks
Before your eyes op out of your ear at reading that, it is true that eating and consuming anything which has no sugar, is better than consuming those which do have sugar. However, that does mean that they are completely harmless to teeth. In the case of sugar-free fizzy drinks, they do not contain sugar, but they can contain high levels of acidity.
High acidity in anything we eat or drink, means that there is a risk of the acid causing , and in particular the acid could erode the enamel on the surface of our teeth. As has a role in protecting teeth it follows that if it is eroded then the level of protection our teeth have is diminished.
Sugar-Free Energy Drinks
We repeat, anything sugar-free is better than a ‘sugar fest’ but in the case of energy drinks, they should be drunk with caution. Two risk factors are at play when we drink sugar-free energy drinks. The first is acidity and the second is caffeine. We have already explained how high acid levels can negatively impact our teeth so if you do drink sugar-free energy drinks, follow it up by swishing with still water.
The second problem that sugar-free energy drinks present is the high caffeine levels. This can speed up the process of us becoming dehydrated, and being dehydrated reduces the amount of saliva we produce. Our saliva has anti-bacterial properties and is key to killing the bacteria which attack our teeth and gums so again, drink still water after an energy drink to rehydrate yourself.
Sparling Water
“Surely not”, you might be thinking, especially after we have been urging anyone reading this to drink water. However, we were careful to state ‘still water’ because sparkling water can cause issues for our teeth. Again it is acidity that is the issue, and in the case of sparkling water, it is the carbonisation process that increases the acidic levels.
However, you will be pleased to know that of the three drinks types we have covered, this one is the least harmful provided you do not add any type of cordial or fruit flavourings which would increase acid levels even further.