As the days of summer get warmer, quenching people’s thirsts will become more difficult. Unfortunately, a great deal of people will opt for a can of soda or a pitcher of iced tea over a glass of water. Researchers have warned that carbonated drinks such as sodas and iced teas could damage tooth enamel, which is the outer layer of the tooth.

A study revealed that the constant consumption of carbonated drinks took its toll upon tooth enamel by thinning and wearing it down completely.

Results From a Study on Carbonated Drinks and Their Effect on Tooth Enamel

• Non-colas and canned iced teas were the most damaging.

• Additives in these drinks such as malic, tartaric and other organic acids contributed to the rapid tooth decay.

• Root beer, which contained the fewest number of harmful additives, was considered the soft drink to produce the least amount of tooth enamel damage.

Startling Facts on Soft Drink Consumption

• Soft drinks make up 27 percent of all beverages that Americans drink.

• In 1997, 12- to 19-year-olds consumed 16 ounces of soda each day, compared to the same age group who were found to drink 28 ounces a day in 1996.

• Soda consumption has gone from 22.2 gallons of cola per person per year in 1970 to 44 gallons per person per year in 1996.

• 95 percent of the people living in the United States drink soda.

• People who worked in front of a computer and drank three to four 34-ounce-sized carbonated drinks daily developed full-blown tooth erosion.

• An average can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar in it.

General Dentistry July/August 2004

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Many people believe that no-calorie flavored water drinks are harmless, especially if they don't contain Nutrasweet or sucralose. Well it turns out that the carbonation may change the pH in your mouth to weaken and slowly dissolve the enamel in your teeth. Soft drinks and canned beverages are constant features of daily life, and the industry rakes in $54 billion each year. Some 95 percent of Americans drink soda, 27 percent of overall beverage consumption is soda and research is showing that iced tea is not much of a better option in terms of your tooth enamel. Soda remains one of the major nutritional reasons why most people suffer from various health problems. Drinking all that sugar suppresses the appetite and affects the body’s ability to take in nourishing foods like vegetables, which may result in nutritional deficiencies. This however is independent of all the damage that sugar can do. You may think that if you drink diet soda that you are out of harm’s way. This is the furthest thing from the truth because aspartame is even worse than sugar. So the solution is simple, just drink pure non-carbonated water. Water provides the best hydration for your body and is particularly important now as the weather gets warmer and people are more inclined to spend time doing activities outdoors such as exercising. Another great benefit of water is that it is less expensive than iced tea, soda and fruit drinks, which are virtually identical in every damaging way to soda. For more on the negative consequences of drinking soda, you can read my past article on the dangers of soda and find out why I list it as one of the five worst foods you can eat (or drink in this case). Related Articles: Soda Drastically Erodes Teens' Teeth Chicago Schools to Ban Soda Soda Drinkers Have Higher Cancer Risk Do Energy Drinks Really Give You Energy? Coke Wants to Fool You With Their Bottled Water Great, Now We Have Artificial and Real Sugar in the Same Soda