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Soft Drinks & Your Teeth
The popularity of soft drinks never seems to diminish thanks in part to people's on-going affair with all manner of sweets. As much as 5-7% of an average American's calorie count is currently attributable to soda pop and other soft drinks. What many folks don't know, however, is that soft drinks endanger oral health.
How? In part it's the shear amount of soft drinks consumed. At first you might not think you drink that much in the way of sugary beverages. You're in for a surprise. Statistics show us that one American generally consumes as much as 50 gallons of soft drinks annually! So how exactly does this beverage intake affect your mouth, teeth, gums and oral tissue?
Sugar
First let's consider sugar's effect. Sugar is one of the main factors in developing cavities because bacteria love the stuff. As a person sips a soft drink, the beverage's sugars coat the teeth along with any acid content. With time, the sugar and acid causes decay, wearing away at tooth enamel, increasing plaque, and generally allowing more germs to grow in the mouth's tissues.
Combine this impact with the fact that people (particularly children) are drinking far less milk than they did even 30 years ago. Now you have an environment ripe for developing all kinds of oral problems and diseases. Milk has calcium, a mineral without which out teeth can suffer either by damaging the tooth itself or by causing jawbone loss.
Safeguarding Your Oral Health
Since soft drinks endanger oral health the obvious question becomes, what exactly can a person do to offset the negative impact these beverages have on teeth and gums? First be mindful of how many soft drinks you're consuming. Try maintaining a beverage diary for a month and review it. The more mindful you become, the easier it gets to avoid drinks that can harm your teeth.
Second, just as you've been told since you were young, follow a daily routine of good oral hygiene. Brush your teeth at least twice daily using fluoride toothpaste and floss at least once taking special care to get all sides and along the gum line. Combine this with bi-annual visits to your dentist for a check up and cleaning. At these appointments you may wish to consider a fluoride treatment or tooth sealing for younger children to better protect the teeth's enamel.
You can certainly try sugar free drinks as one alternative. These have been shown to be less harmful to your oral health. Nonetheless the acid content can still create problems.
If you're going to continue drinking pop, then take the time afterwards to rinse your mouth thoroughly with a good mouthwash. This decreases the amount of on-going contact the sugars and acids have directly with your teeth. Also consider choosing a soft drink that's got a lower acid content (Colas are high in acid, whereas lemon-lime or orange flavored drinks have about half the acid content of colas).
We all know how detrimental sugary soft drinks can be to your oral health. Some studies suggest, however, that certain soft drinks can actually benefit your health.
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