How Soda and Juice Affect Our Teeth

If you continue to drink excessive amounts of soda and juice, you may find yourself seeking out an emergency dentist sooner rather than later. It’s no secret that soft drinks such as soda and juice are chock full of sugar, which can have an adverse effect on otherwise normal healthy teeth.

We all like to enjoy soda and other sugary drinks from time to time, but for those of you who consume it on a regular basis, you could potentially damage your smile.

The Biggest Threat to Your Teeth

Sugar is usually the big threat that is most often mentioned when it comes to keeping your teeth healthy. But sugar is only one component of a larger and more damaging threat. Consuming soda and juice allow for the sugar to interact with the bacteria that already exists inside your mouth and the result is the formation of acid.

Acid is the true threat that can have a serious impact on the health and well-being of your teeth. When this acid is present it can be devastating to your teeth. Every time you take a drink of soda or juice you are triggering that combination and the reaction can set off an attack on your teeth that can last for nearly a half hour.

Think about that, each gulp results in your teeth being exposed to acid for almost one-half hour. That means two swigs of soda can put your teeth under attack for nearly an hour. Just two! Imagine what an entire 16 ounce can of Coca-Cola can do to your teeth.

Now consider how many times you drink soda in a day. Two? Three? What about in a week? What about other sugary drinks? Perhaps you don’t have soda every day but you consume other sugary drinks like juices or energy drinks. In one week, you are exposing your teeth to an incredible level of acidic reactions that can harm your teeth in significant ways.

Tooth Damage

Acid that comes from sugar and bacteria combining with one another can be highly effective at eroding the enamel of your teeth. Juices and energy drinks aren’t as powerful as soda in wearing away the outer protective coating of your teeth, but the impact all three can have on the condition of your teeth is staggering.

If your enamel is damaged, your tooth is a whole lot more vulnerable to the other major way that soda and juice can ruin your teeth.

Cavities

That’s right, once the enamel is damaged and the tooth vulnerable to attack, the tooth can start to be riddled with cavities as the dentin and composite fillings start to become eroded. This damage can be tough to repair as well as painful and expensive to boot.

If you aren’t practicing good dental hygiene by brushing and flossing regularly, you are nearly doubling the risk of developing cavities in your teeth. So, if you must drink sugary soft drinks, try to limit your consumption and be diligent about cleaning your teeth three times a day.