. A small percentage of your purchase price will help support Oral Answers. Don't worry -- you'll still pay the same everyday low prices at Amazon.
Nine Drinks that Can Dissolve Your Teeth
Although teeth are the hardest parts of our bodies, they do have one weakness: they can be easily destroyed by acid. Acid is the weapon of choice that plaque use to ruin our teeth and they can be found in many of the drinks that we consume.
The acidity of substances is measured using the pH scale. The lower the pH a drink has, the more acidic the it is. Many common beverages have a low pH, which means that they contain a lot of acid.
Our saliva normally has a pH of right around 6.5, which is a healthy pH for the teeth. When the pH of our mouth gets to 5.5 or below, the enamel on our teeth starts to dissolve. When you drink something that has a pH lower than 5.5, it starts to eat away at your teeth. Of course, you can drink these drinks and still have healthy teeth, there are a lot of factors involved. I'll get in to a few of them at the end of the list. Here they are:
Nine Drinks that Can Dissolve Your Teeth
1. Sports Drinks - While sports drinks are great for re-hydration, their acidic nature can cause them to be harmful to your teeth. The two leading brand names both have a pH of less than 3.
- Powerade is the most acidic at a pH of 2.75
- Gatorade has a pH of 2.95
2. Fruit Juice - Fruit juice is good for you, but if you have the option, it's always best to eat whole fruits as they are better for your teeth, and contain fiber to help your digestive system. Here are the pH's of some common juices:
- Orange juice has a pH of 3.5
- Apple juice has a pH of 3.2
- Pineapple juice has a pH of 3.4
- Grapefruit juice has a pH of 3.1
- Juicy Juice has a pH of around 3.5
- Cranberry juice has a pH of 2.6
- Welch's White Grape Juice has a pH of 2.8
- Lemon juice has a pH of 2.0
3. Soda or Pop or Coke - Whatever you prefer to call this carbonated wonder, it has extremely low pH levels. Any carbonated drink will have a low pH because the carbon dioxide can readily combine with water to create carbonic acid. Here are some examples of the high acidity of soda pop:
- Coca Cola and Pepsi have a pH of 2.5
- Dr. Pepper has a pH of 2.7
- Mountain Dew has a pH of 2.9
- Sierra Mist has a pH of 3.0
- Squirt has a pH of 2.85
- Sprite has a pH of 3.42
- Mug Root Beer has a pH of 3.9, Dad's Root Beer has a pH of 4, A&W Root Beer has a pH of 4.3, and Barq's (even with all of it's "bite") only has a pH of 4.6
4. Vegetable Juice - Even healthy vegetable juice such as V8 has a low pH. Vegetable juice usually has a pH right around 4.1. It is the tomato juice that is the main cause of the acidity.
5. Fruit Flavored Drinks - A lot of fruit flavored drinks contain artificial flavors. In order to provide a delicious, tangy taste many manufacturers add citric acid and other acids to their beverages. Here are the pH's of some common fruit flavored drinks:
- Snapple has a pH of 2.4
- Sunny Delight has a pH of 2.4
- Capri Sun drink varieties have a pH of around 2.6
- Country Time Lemonade has a pH of 2.5
- SoBe Tropical Sugar-free has a pH of 2.5
- Hawaiian Punch has a pH of 2.82
- Hi-C Blast Fruit Punch has a pH of 2.7
- Tang has a pH of 2.7
6. Iced Tea - While normal brewed tea has a pH of 7.2, its "iced" counterpart brings a lot of acid into your mouth.
- Regular Iced Tea has a pH of about 3.5
- Snapple Tea has a pH of 3.2
- Nestea Sweetened Lemon Iced Tea has a pH of 2.97
- Nestea has a pH of 3.04
- Lipton Brisk has a pH of 2.87
7. Flavored Water - I used to drink Propel flavored water a lot. It seemed like a better choice than water since it tasted better to me, had zero calories, and came in a variety of flavors. However, Propel water has a very low pH of 3.2 which means it is able to dissolve tooth structure.
8. Wine and Beer - Many wines are quite acidic. A typical sherry-wine has a pH of 3.37. California chardonnay has a pH of 3.4. In general, sweeter wines will have more acid added by the winemaker to balance out the sweetness. To learn more about the pH of wine, head on over to The Acidity of Wine at Wine Perspective.
The pH of beer can range from 3.7 to 4.1.
9. Buttermilk - Buttermilk has a pH of anywhere from 4.41 to 4.83 depending on the brand. It's not too bad, but since it is below the 5.5 threshold, I thought it was worth mentioning.
What Drinks Don't Dissolve Teeth?
I know... That list seems a bit intimidating. Maybe it sounds like I want you to avoid drinking anything that tastes good. That's not true, because even if you do drink these drinks, your teeth wil be fine as long as they are consumed in moderation.
There are a few drinks that aren't acidic. Coffee, while still slightly acidic, only has a pH of 5.5 so it is just above the threshold where teeth start to dissolve. Of course some coffee beans do approach closer to 5.0 and some are over 6, depending on where they are grown. Milk has a pH of 6.8, while soy milk weighs in at a pH of 7. Of course, water has a neutral pH of 7.
Why Haven't My Teeth Dissolved Yet?
As I mentioned above, you can drink all of these drinks and still have healthy teeth. The degree of erosion depends on three key factors:
- How often you drink these drinks
- How pH - The lower the pH, the faster tooth erosion occurs
- How long the drink stays in contact with your teeth
I'll be honest, I love drinking orange juice for breakfast. I love the pulp, and often I find myself savoring it in my mouth before swallowing. Keeping it in my mouth increases the amount of time that the juice has with my teeth, which gives the acid in the juice more time to eat away at my teeth. For this reason, I usually drink some water right after drinking the orange juice to help get the acid out of my mouth and away from my teeth.
How to Reduce Tooth Erosion
Here's a few tips you can use to reduce tooth erosion:
- Don't slowly sip acidic drinks. If you are going to drink an acidic drink, do it as quickly as possible to decrease the contact time with your teeth.
- Drink acidic drinks through a straw. By using a straw, you are pushing the drinks directly to the back of your mouth and avoiding some of the contact that the acid has with your teeth.
- Rinse your mouth out after drinking acidic drinks to help flush away some of the acid. Drinking water or milk can help.
- Don't brush your teeth right after consuming acidic beverages. The acid in the drinks can eat away some of the mineral content of your teeth, leaving behind a soft matrix. Calcium in your saliva can eventually replace the lost tooth structure. However, if you brush right after consuming acidic drinks, you could brush away that enamel matrix, making it impossible for your saliva to repair the damage done by the acidic drink.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that you don't need to completely avoid the drinks I mentioned above. Moderation is the key.
Do you have any questions, comments, or stories dealing with these drinks and tooth erosion? Share them in the comments!
No related posts.
No related posts.
22 Comments | Leave A Comment
Leave a Response
Hi, I'm Tom. I'm currently a 4th year dental student in the USA. I started this blog to help people take better care of their teeth. You can 
Entries(RSS)
I always heard that acids were bad for teeth, but I'd never really thought about how much I drink. I am a big fan of lots of the drinks on the list. My dentist said my teeth were starting to wear down and he asked if I drink a lot of acid drinks but I told him no. Now that I know that all of these drinks are acidic, I think I know why my teeth are wearing down. Thank you.
No problem, Ken. Thank you for your comment. I'm glad you figured it out. If you drink these drinks in moderation, then they're fine. The problem comes when you drink A LOT of them A LOT!
You mentioned Propel. How about Crystal Light? I drink a lot of Crystal Light because it's not as boring as plain water while also being sugar free and low calorie. I hadn't given much thought to the acidity of it. (Soda is what typically comes to mind when I think of flavored drinks high on the acidic scale.)
Hi Rachel - The only two sources I found say that it is around 3 - 3.5. In this forum post, a user says it is 3.15 (she claims to have measured it), and on this Answers page, someone guesses 3.0 - 3.5, which I would probably agree with if I had to guess.
Keep in mind that you probably won't have a problem drinking it in moderation, but if you're drinking it all the time, it could start to affect your teeth. I hope that helps!
Thanks for your comments, Rachel - Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi Tom, would you know anything to get the mouth back to an alkaline ph? after consuming large amounts of grape juice (1 liter), and herbal infusions (1 liter).
Not at the same time, but those 2 are very acidic apparently and rinsing afterwards with water isn't nearly enough. I can't give up on those because of many reasons (habits, plus benefits, plus what I would be doing instead).
I am taking Vitamin D3 and K2, I try -for as long as I can last- to eat no gluten, minimize phytic acid, and have a good amount of minerals from natural foods (only zinc and copper I supplement).
I am mostly vegan, with ocassional junk foods (dairy and eggs in foods such as pies, etc.) but no meats.
I am not gonna try any of the meat and dairy suggestions of Ramiel Nagel.
I do oil pulling daily, very good for the gums and teeth plus a natural replacement for mouthwash containing chlorhexidine digluconate.
Also flossing and started using an ionic brush, better than regular brush (never tried electric ones though). And just recently stopped using regular toothpaste to cut the glycerin (which coats the teeth).
Have been getting a LOT of cavities drilled in the past year (mainly because of prior terrible habits, like tons of fruits and honey and cereals, etc.) Plus enamel is threatening to go downhill in the future.
Hopefully with some time I will rip some positive results (specially because of D3 and K2), but patience and perseverance are ever demanding...
Regards,
Ary
Hi Ary - As far as getting the mouth alkaline again, you might try a rinse with baking soda and water. The fluoride found in toothpaste can make your teeth so that they can tolerate a lower pH before they get damaged, so I would try to find a way to work that back into your routine (can you find a fluoride toothpaste w/o glycerin?)
I read an article that said that vegan diets do put you at higher risk for decay due to more acidic foods as well as a lack of alkaline dairy products.
I hope that helps - Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for your comment, Ary!
I would take issue with the article criticizing vegan products for having less alkaline foods due to lack of dairy.
If I drink water instead of milk I'm actually improving the alkaline profile of my diet since milk is slightly acidic.
I think the important factor here is calcium intake and the general teeth based dietary features such as food and beverages that are not relevant to vegan or flesh diets.
Dear Tom, thanks for the reply. What do you say about flouride rinse? And Xylitol? I'd be open to try those but not sure about how often, if mixed in some combination, and how much. My dentist gave me some flouride rinse to try, but I will find out the price if I start doing it everyday.
Great website, really.
Thanks
Hi Ary - These two articles should help answer your questions:
- Xylitol: What It Is and How It Protects Your Teeth
- The Three Ways Fluoride Protects Your Teeth
I hope that helps - Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for your comment, Ary!
hi tom
well my son is a 4 year old who is always drinking fruit juice but he really doesnt brush his teeth
i been telling him if he doesnt brush his teeth will become rotten and im really worry his babyteeth was
bleeding yestrday because i saw he brush his teeth soo fast because he saw me holding fruit juice soo
sholud i take him to the dentist ?
Hi John - It would be a good idea to get him to the dentist so they can make sure everything is alright and solve any small problems that he may have before they become bigger ones. Most dentists recommend visiting a pediatric dentist by age 1, so they are used to young children.
hi, so my dauther is doing a science project, she is trying to see which liquid will desolve a tooth faster. we got sunny d., windex, and sprite. how can i measure the result. thanks
You got the drinks, now you just need the teeth. Also remember to use one in water for Experimental Control. Good luck!
Hi. Maybe I missed it, but exactly how long should one leave between drinking or eating acidic fluids/foods and brushing teeth please? Many thanks your kind help.
There is no answer for "exactly". However, you can use a mouthwash of water or some other product if you want immediate care, or just floss.
Teeth are to chew and begin digestion but clearly food that lingers in our mouth is harmful to our teeth. So, keep food out of your mouth. It seems brushing might contribute to that harm so if anything this puts even more emphasis on flossing and mouthwash and non-brushing methods of clearing food from your mouth.
Also smoking is probably even more hazardous since it dehydrates your mouth thus preventing saliva from doing any repair.
Ari - I might sound dumb, but why does the "iced" counterpart of iced tea, add acid? Isn't Iced tea just refridgerated? How does that add acid?
If you put ice into tea, then you're better off than buying an "Iced Tea" product. That is the difference to be respected.
Essentially, don't buy bottled beverages, just drink water.
The preservatives in bottled or canned iced tea contribute to the acidity
so acidic drinks with a higher ph level distroy your tooth faster or the one with a lower ph level?
at what level is a higher ph level?
another word for neutralize is?
I would like to pass along this very good information. Could you provide sources?
what about some bottled waters? - heard that Aquafina purified water had a very low PH level - is that true?