What drink is best for teeth?

brook2jack

You do know that it is still very acidic at 4.3 and will still damage teeth? Even worse both versions according to amazon contain citric acid a prime contributor to erosion.

Anything below 5.5 will promote acid erosion so you are looking at something 12 times more acid than this "safe" level.

cepheus

Most middle aged people today have drunk far worse than this, and still have teeth. Neither does the test suggest that PHs of this value are particularly destructive to enamel, especially if taken with a meal.

You could claim driving is dangerous, and you might be right, but you need to get it into perspective. I have just drunk a pint of beer which has a PH around 4 down the pub, how much damage did that just do? I am trying to improve my diet not become a saint!

brook2jack

No but you have indicated you have sensitive teeth due to a diet coke habit and were asking for a toothkind substitute.
Continuing the same consumption habits with a drink with a ph below 5.5 ,which is widely acknowledged to be the level at which tooth destruction occurs, cannot be described by any means as tooth kind.

Beer ,wine etc all have a low ph and can contribute to the problem as well. Yes many middle aged people consume these items, but the picture you presented was of someone who has damage (sensitive teeth) due to their consumption of cola drinks. The difference in ph of cola and root beer is 1 but both will cause dental destruction if consumed in the same way. You have misread the literature if you think a ph of 4.3 and a drink containing citric acid are not damaging.

The only tooth safe drinks to be consumed regularly are those with a ph of 7. Anything else if you have damage should be considered as an occasional treat not a staple part of the diet.

Dasa

brook2jack wrote: »

You don't want low ph that is acid! Neutral ph around 7.

Water,water,water. Or tea (high in fluoride, green tea high in antioxidants). Milk .

My dentist told me that even milk was bad for my kids teeth!

brook2jack

Cows milk is generally considered protective against decay. However add milkshake powder or hot chocolate etc and it's a sugar laden time bomb.

Many milk substitutes like soya milk, oat milk , almond milk are very high in sugar and certainly do cause decay.

brook2jack

Cepheus I have just read the original research on root beer. It was talking about non carbonated, non citric acid containing root beer. Both the examples shown on amazon are carbonated and contain citric acid, factors the original research deemed critical as to how erosive drinks were. In other words these cans are worse than diet coke which doesn't contain citric acid! The only root beers which are less unkind to teeth (but still damaging) are the flat, uncarbonated non citric acid containing types.

ada1988

i consider that pure water and salt water are good.

jenniewb

cepheus wrote: »

Yes I meant something not too corrosive during meals really. I only drink tea and coffee at other times! Unfortunately my avoidance of sugar free drinks such as Diet Coke/Pepsi may have made my teeth far worse. I don't think they should be allowed to market drinks of 2 and 3 PH.

I have some Bicarb, do you put this in the drink?

With the bicarb, not to drink! (not tried this but don't think it sounds like a nice idea...) you mix a tsp with water and swirl around your mouth to help with acid left as a result of foods or drinks which are overly acidic. It is by no means a way around brushing but in desperate times can be useful if your out a lot and are especially worried about acidic foods and drinks- a cheaper mouth wash maybe (though with no antiseptic or cleaning qualities)

Didn't know drinks have a PH of 2 and 3- are you sure? I though stomach acid was only a PH of 2-3 and thats so strong it can burn holes in skin (apparently).

Tried chewing gum? Not seen any evidence eitherway but the excess saliva maybe could help to neutralise things.

cepheus

jenniewb wrote: »

With the bicarb, not to drink! (not tried this but don't think it sounds like a nice idea...) you mix a tsp with water and swirl around your mouth to help with acid left as a result of foods or drinks which are overly acidic. It is by no means a way around brushing but in desperate times can be useful if your out a lot and are especially worried about acidic foods and drinks- a cheaper mouth wash maybe (though with no antiseptic or cleaning qualities)

Didn't know drinks have a PH of 2 and 3- are you sure? I though stomach acid was only a PH of 2-3 and thats so strong it can burn holes in skin (apparently).

Tried chewing gum? Not seen any evidence eitherway but the excess saliva maybe could help to neutralise things.

You can drink small amount of bi-carb for stomach acid, it might make you burp though.

With regards the acid content it is quite frightening, see the list here. Bear in mind that a PH of 3 is ten times as strong as 4

http://www.21stcenturydental.com/smith/pH_drinks.htm

I used to drink diet coke to avoid sugar, for my teeth, rather self defeating since it corrodes directly! There should be a warning on the bottle, THIS DRINK WILL CORRODE YOUR TEETH!

brook2jack

As will any carbonated , citric acid containing drink.

Chewing gum does stimulate saliva which neutralises acid but since the damage is done during direct contact of drink with tooth particularly with people who swoosh drinks, chewing gum will do little for this type of problem.

As an aside when I was in the TA some people used diet coke or tomato sauce to remove carbon deposits from breech blocks (big bits of metal inside a gun). It was a serious offence to be found doing this since it ate away at the metal eventually making it unusable.

Any carbonated drink should be an occasional treat not a diet staple.