Page 14 - The Connection Bridgewater Somerville Edition, September 2012

PAGE 14 THE BRIDGEWATER-SOMERVILLE CONNECTION SEPTEMBER 2012
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BEWARE WHAT YOU DRINK
By: Francis Barbieri, Jr., DDS, FAGD
They come in colorful eye catching bot-
tles. They promise enhanced perform-
ance, improved mental acuity and a
competitive edge and they can be very
damaging to your teeth.
It is reported that 30 to 50% of US
teens are regularly consuming sports
and energy drinks with as many as 62%
of those consuming at least one per
day. In addition to this, all you need is to
walk around any office building, jobsite
or city street and you will notice many
adults consuming these so called per-
formance enhancing drinks.
What many people do not realize is that
Sports and Energy drinks are essentially
bathing their teeth in acid and causing
irreversible damage.
Researchers have examined the acidity
levels of 13 sports drinks and 9 energy
drinks. They found that all of those test-
ed were acidic. Acidity levels varied with
brand and even with flavor within the
same brand.
Researchers immersed samples of
human tooth enamel in each of these
beverages for 15 minutes followed by 2
hours in artificial saliva. This cycle was
repeated four times for five days with
teeth being stored in artificial saliva at
all other times. This was intended to
simulate the way many teens and
young adults use these drinks.
They found damage to the enamel of
these teeth was evident after only 5
days of exposure. The energy drinks
were found to be twice as damaging as
the sports drinks.
Prolonged exposure to these beverages
will cause damage to the tooth enamel
that is irreversible. Teeth often become
overly sensitive, prone to cavities and
more likely to decay.
If a teen or adult is experiencing an
increase in dental cavities or generalized
tooth sensitivity in spite of good oral
hygiene habits at home, it is appropri-
ate to look at their dietary habits as well
as other factors such as occlusal disease
and salivary flow (see previous articles).
I highly recommend that all patients
eliminate or minimize consumption of
sports and energy drinks. If you must
drink them you should take measures to
normalize the acid levels in your mouth
as soon as possible after drinking. Two
ways to do this would be to rinse vigor-
ously with water immediately after and
to chew a SUGAR FREE (preferably xyli-
tol) gum afterwards.
Please note you should NOT brush your
teeth immediately after consuming a
sports or energy drink. When you do
this you are working the acid into the
tooth surfaces thereby increasing the
erosive action. A better approach would
be either to rinse thoroughly or to wait
an hour for the saliva to normalize the
acid then brush and floss well.
The unfortunate and “inconvenient”
truth is that although I have focused on
sports and energy drinks here: many of
the beverages that we consume have
high levels of acid and sugar and do not
promote good health. Some other very
acidic beverages include diet sodas,
sodas and many fruit juices and “ades.“
WATER is still the best alternative.
If you would like more information
about the acid content of what you
drink feel free to email me at barbieri
dental@gmail.com, 908-218-0040 office
or visit us on the web at www.main
streetsmile.com.
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