Overview: A new study on the dental effects of acidic drinks once again reinforces the dangers that these drinks pose, especially to young children. The study highlights the importance of good dental care early on in life and urges parents to avoid giving their children these drinks if possible. To find out more details and which drinks to avoid, take a look at the blog below.
Researchers at the University of Adelaide have recently conducted studies into the effects of highly acidic drinks on young people's teeth. The results show once again that acidic drinks such as fruit juice, pop, sport drinks, and energy drinks pose a great danger to the dental health of young people. The researchers claim that the acidity from these drinks forms part of a triple threat, including teeth grinding and reflux, that can be devastating for the health of your teeth.
Worse still, it appears that tooth decay caused by acidic drinks is on the rise. As Dr. Sarbin Ranjitkar says: "Often, children and adolescents grind their teeth at night, and they can have undiagnosed regurgitation or reflux, which brings with it acidity from the stomach. Combined with drinks high in acidity, this creates a triple threat to young people's teeth which can cause long-term damage."
Although the researchers found that these three threats can cause dental defects that lead to a lifetime of appointments and rehabilitation, they also noted how easily these problems can be avoided.
According to Dr. Ranjitkar, parents should make sure their children consume as little of these acidic drinks as possible and he notes that drinking them is not something that can be simply reversed by brushing or flossing: "Our research has shown that permanent damage to the tooth enamel will occur within the first 30 seconds of high acidity coming into contact with the teeth. This is an important finding and it suggests that such drinks are best avoided,” says Dr. Ranjitkar. "If high acidity drinks are consumed, it is not simply a matter of having a child clean their teeth an hour or 30 minutes later and hoping they'll be okay - the damage is already done."
What Dr. Ranjitkar and his team of researchers are stressing is the permanent nature of oral acid exposure. As soon as a young person drinks a something with a high acid content, the damage has been done and the only way to protect your children's teeth is by avoiding this acidic exposure.
Bottom Line: Acidic drinks have long been considered a problem for dental health but in this recent study it has been emphasized that the only way to tackle this problem is to avoid drinking acidic beverages in the first place. As a counter measure, Dr. Ranjitkar recommends giving your children fresh fruit rather than bottled juice as although fruit still has a high acidic content, it is generally far less than bottled juice, pop, energy drinks, and other equivalents.
For more information on improving your family's dental health, contact Marlborough Dental Centre in Calgary's NE on (403) 248-2066.
