The University of Maryland recently published in  The Academy of General Dentistry’s Journal, “General Dentistry”, a review of not only traditional soft drinks but non-cola soft drinks, diet drinks, and canned iced tea.  All, according to Dr. Thomas Balshi, prosthodontist and founder of Prothodontics Intermedica in Philadelphia, can cause irreversible damage to our dental health.

Logic isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when it comes to permanently destroying your tooth enamel.  My first thoughts would be sugared sodas were the very worst choice when looking for a thirst quencher……..Did you know diet sodas have the same negative effect as the sugared versions since the main culprit is the acidic additives?

Wouldn’t you think brewed coffee or tea were a no-no?  Brewed black tea and coffee  had a minimal effect, canned iced tea on the other hand causes 30 times the damage to tooth enamel as brewed tea or coffee.

You know water is always good for you, but Root Beer???  Those clear-as-water choices like Sprite, Sierra Mist, and Fresca all have acidic flavor additives, including malic, tartaric, citric and phosphoric acids which weaken and erode tooth enamel. They cause 2-5 times more damage than darker cola drinks.  The high level of acid actually dissolve the tooth’s enamel!

“Root beer, which contains the least amount of flavor additives, was found to be the safest soft drink to safeguard dental enamel,” as per Dr. Balshi. “The chemical reaction between your mouth’s natural acidity and that found in the soft drink can result in significant tooth decay.”

Gives new meaning to a cold one.