Diet Soda & Oral Health: What You Need to Know

In today’s calorie-obsessed culture, it can be hard to find the truth among all of the health-conscious noise. Often times, St. Augustine residents are misinformed and mislead about the health benefits of trends like cleanses, sugar alternatives, diets, organic vs. nonorganic, and a myriad of other common topics. Today Dr. Jeremy Gordon would like to clear up any misconceptions about dental health and diet soda. If you have any questions please call us at Gordon Dental Associates.

Are Diet Sodas Healthy?

The short answer is no. Originally conceived as low-calorie alternatives to one of America’s first commercial legacies, diet sodas have become extremely popular amidst our country’s battle to lose weight. There’s only one little problem – diet sodas are only marginally better than regular soda. Compared to water, diet soda has zero nutritional value and contains many ingredients that are harmful outside of moderation.

Diet Soda & Dental Health

Diet soft drinks are not good for your teeth. Although they are better than regular sodas, which usually have around 45g of sugar per serving, sugar is not the only problem with soda. For example:

  • Phosphoric acid and citric acid (present in nearly all diet soda) eat away at your enamel, causing acid erosion. If you like to sip soda throughout the day, your teeth may be under soda-fueled acid attack for several hours per day.
  • Carbonated colas have been shown to cause bone loss. As part of the body’s attempt to neutralize the disruption to pH levels in the stomach, calcium and other basic minerals are leached from the bloodstream to maintain equilibrium.
  • Artificial sweeteners in diet sodas, such as aspartame and sucralose may help stall tooth decay, but health advocates warn that they may cause problems such as toxicity to brain cells, headaches, and have been linked to weight gain.
  • Diet sodas often contain caffeine, which has diuretic and laxative properties. Combined with the fact that drinking diet soda regularly means you are drinking less water, this can cause a chronic dehydration problem. This can lead to dry mouth, bad breath, and increased rick of gum disease and tooth decay.

Do You Have to Give up Diet Soda?

We know that lots of St. Augustine folks love their soda and Dr. Gordon won’t tell anyone what they can and can’t drink. We at Gordon Dental Associates provide this information so that you can make informed decisions about your health. We want everyone in St. Augustine to have beautiful smiles and healthy teeth, but it’s up to you to maintain healthy habits that keep your teeth safe between visits to Dr. Jeremy Gordon. If you have any questions or would like to visit us for an evaluation, schedule an appointment today.

 

Sources

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