When I was little, my parents did not allow me to drink much soda. I could have a glass every once in a while, but they didn’t allow me to have it whenever I wanted. At the time, I would get angry when they said no, but looking back, I’m glad they did. Once I turned about 14, I started to be able to drink it more freely. I drank it a few times a week from the years 14-17, and I noticed that my teeth started to get less white. I stopped drinking pop often when I was 17 because I heard about the dietary effects it has, and I theorized that pop was also the reason for my yellowing teeth.
When I stopped drinking pop at age 17, although I didn’t exactly know it, I developed a hypothesis. My null hypothesis was that soda was not causing my teeth to be less white. The alternative hypothesis was that pop was causing the yellowing of my teeth. To find out the truth, I researched the topic.
In this study, the effects of diet soda are compared to those of hard drugs such as cocaine and meth. The soda wears away the enamel of the teeth causing the teeth to be easily worn down. Enamel protects your teeth from wear and tear. It also protects your teeth from getting cavities and other problems. Losing your enamel causes major problems in your teeth, and requires a lot of dental work to fix.
The acids in soda are compared to the acids from batteries in this study. This study discusses the pH levels of certain sodas and how they compare to other extremely acidic acids. In particular, the pH of RC Cola is 2.387. The minimum pH is 0 so to be that low is very scary for pop drinkers. RC Cola is extremely acidic when compared to water, which is a pH of 7. These extremely acidic drinks erode your teeth away, starting with the enamel. Then they proceed to do all the noticeable damage when the enamel is gone.
In conclusion, the effects of pop on your teeth is obvious. The acidic sodas are a direct cause of the yellowing and weakening of teeth. The nutritional problems of sodas are well known, but I’m hoping this spreads the awareness of the other harmful effects not many people consider when drinking soda. I believe a rational person should try to stay away from soda as much as possible. Also, everyone loves a beautiful white smile, so try to avoid ruining that with soda.
Sources: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/28/diet-soda-teeth-similar-to-meth-photos_n_3348158.html
http://www.livescience.com/7198-acids-popular-sodas-erode-tooth-enamel.html
This post is very relatable to me because I feel that I was in the same situation as you. When I was little, soda would be a treat for me every once and a while or when we went out to dinner. When I got to my junior and senior years of high school, I noticed that I started to drink soda quite a lot and, like you, I noticed that my teeth got less white and more yellow. Slowly and surely I have attempted to cut soda out of my diet officially, although, every once and a while I let myself indulge again. Something I also drink a lot of is coffee so, out of curiosity, I looked up which was worse for your teeth soda or coffee. It seems to say that while neither are necessarily good for your teeth, coffee is better and soda stains your teeth more.
http://pellasmiles.com/2013/01/pella-dentist-coffee-or-soda/
Hey Brett! As an avid coffee drinker, I completely understand the worry between how what we eat affects the brightness of our teeth. While there’s no doubt soda harms our teeth due to its high pH and harsh chemicals, I wonder what it is about green and black teas that do the same dental harm. I looked it up and found an answer on WebMD http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/features/foods-stain-teeth-feature#2. Basically, any colored drink, like juice, coffee, tea, and even sports drinks can stain teeth if consumed over a long period of time. Especially those that are acidic, like soda or wine. After reading all this, I still agree that drinking soda is not good for ones health in general, but it makes me realize that almost every drink can stain my teeth and the key is drinking it all in moderation!
My parents were the same exact way. The amount of soda I drank was restricted and the health of teeth was always given as a reason why so I was very intrigued by the title of your post. As I grew older, I too was allowed to drink it more but since it was taken away from me for so long, I never really wanted to drink it. This article I found gives tips on what to do instead of drinking excessive amounts of soda (such as sticking to only a can of soda a day if you have to and gargling water after drinking it to eliminate the acid). Check it out.
http://www.wda.org/your-oral-health/sip-all-day
My parents grew up drinking soda, but when raising my sister and I they tried to regulate soda intact with us. We were allowed to have it on some occasions like family parties as a treat, but on a daily basis water was our go-to beverage of choice. Now after learning of the health impacts of the sugary soft drink I am glad for what they did. I would be interested in more extensive research that looks into the differing impacts based of the different drinks. As of right now it seems that soda is generalized to all brands and drinks, but I am curious to see if Pepsi has a higher impact over Coca-Cola or Dr.Pepper or the hundreds of other common soft drinks. It seems that soda, among other things, must be had in moderation.
Like you, my parents never really let my drink soda when I was little, and I never really liked it anyway. Today, after learning about all the averse health effects it has, I am glad I was never a soda drinker. I have always heard about the health effects soda can have, such as weight gain, heart disease, and other things that we talked about in class, however I have never really examined it from the standpoint strictly of your teeth. I found an article that talks about the effects of soda on teeth, particularly Mountain Dew. They have even come up with the name “Mountain Dew Mouth” to describe it which I thought was funny at first but is actually a serious problem, especially in West Virginia. You should definitely read the article if you are interested in learning more about this.
It’s so funny you posted this because I was just having a conversation with my friend about how soda (and gatorade) is bad for your teeth. Apparently its also so hard to fix your enamel: once its gone, its gone. My parents rarely let me drink sugary drinks, and I’m glad they did! I feel like soda should have to come with a warning label (like on cigarettes and alcohol) because of all the damage it causes to your teeth and body.