Energy Drinks Impacts Teeth

On the market for almost 20 years, energy drinks sales are increasingly flourishing in the soft drinks sector. They might give you a boost, but a new study shows that energy drinks — and, to a lesser extent, sports drinks — literally cause your tooth enamel to dissolve. Energy drinks are loaded with top ingredients caffeine and sugar, and they represent the highest health and teeth risks, especially for young people.

Energy Drinks Impacts Teeth

Drinks with a lot of sugar will rot your teeth, right? That’s the conventional wisdom. But what about the acid? It’s not something we think much about, but dentists say it’s high time we start, especially when it comes to the river of energy drinks we — and young people in particular — are consuming.

In a study published in the May/June issue of General Dentistry, researchers have looked for the first time at the effects of energy drinks on teeth. It turns out there’s often a lot of citric acid in the drinks. Dentists in Omaha are especially worried about teens — 30 to 50 percent of whom are estimated to be gulping down energy drinks — losing enamel because once it’s gone teeth are more prone to cavities, and more likely to decay.

Energy Drinks Research

To measure just how energy and sports drinks affect teeth, the researchers looked at the fluoride levels, pH, and something called “titratable acidity” of 13 sports drinks and nine energy drinks, including Gatorade and Red Bull. The researchers found that teeth lost enamel with exposure to both kinds of drinks, but energy drinks took off a lot more enamel than sports drinks.

The precise amount of citric acid in a drink isn’t something beverage companies have to declare on the label.

How does that happen?

First, she said your saliva is roughly a pH of 6.8 or 7, which is considered neutral. Researchers found that even a small amount of a highly acidic drink can send your saliva’s pH plummeting. It takes the human body approximately 30 minutes to buffer the saliva back to a normal pH. For those 30 minutes, your teeth are essentially bathed in an acidic environment, in acid. But you don’t stop at a single sip. You go on to drink that can, or bottle, or glass.

The bottom line How Energy Drinks Impacts Teeth

Dental experts say regular consumption of energy drinks can cause serious damage to your teeth. That’s because an energy drink can essentially bathe the enamel on your teeth in a highly acidic liquid. The hyperactive energy produced by the drinks can also cause people to grind their teeth, causing tooth breakage and loss.

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