Over recent years, the popularity of sports and energy drinks has skyrocketed. About half of the teens and young adults in America drink energy drinks, and more than half consume at least one sports drink in a day. With boasts of increased performance, endurance, and energy levels, one can understand why these drinks are so popular. According to recent studies, however, these beverages can also add increased risk of tooth decay to the list of advertised effects. Celina and Prosper dentist Dr. Newton explores how these much-celebrated energy boosters and thirst quenchers affect your oral health.
A Tooth-Destroying Trend
A popular misconception about sports and energy drinks is that they are a much healthier choice for your teeth than soda. To test this theory, researchers studied the acidity of a variety of popular beverages. During the study, scientists immersed samples of tooth enamel in each beverage for 15 minutes, placed the samples in artificial saliva for two hours, and repeated the cycle four times a day for five days. The exposure cycles mimicked the amount of exposure a typical sports and energy drink consumer subjects their teeth to. After only five days, the damage was already evident, with energy drinks proving doubly harmful to teeth than the more balanced sports drinks. (more…)
Recent Comments