Stop the Pop! Acid + Sugar = Trouble

Kay | June 26, 2009

The nutritional labels above are from Coke and Diet Coke some of the leading soft drinks in the industry.  Regular soft drinks contain both sugar and acid that can lead to tooth decay.  And although Diet soft drinks don’t contain sugar, they contain acid which is still harmful to teeth.

Sugary drinks, including sports drinks and energy drinks are consumed by children and adults a like but a lot of the cautionary information is aimed at parents and children.

But young adults should also pay close attention.  Students studying for exams or young people on the job trying to “get through the day” can mindlessly sip on soft drinks most of the day.  This continual sipping means the acid and sugar stay in contact with your teeth and can literally “bomb out” your mouth in between visits to your dentists.  Repairing the decay in these “bombed out” mouths isn’t cheap but if the decay isn’t repaired it just leads to bigger cavities.

So how much acid and sugar is in some of your favorite soft drinks?  See the chart below and remember the lower the acid number, the worse it is for your teeth.  I added battery acid, just for fun so you could compare the acid PH level of battery acid to your favorite soft drinks.

For more soft drink results see the information from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry where these results were taken.