The process of industrialization brings convenience to human society, but also brings more fresh and exciting products, such as carbonated drinks.
According to research, carbonated beverages have gradually become the mainstream of youth beverage consumption. However, most commercial beverages except mineral water are acidic and have a low pH value between 2.2-4.0, which is below the critical pH value (5.0-5.5) for tooth demineralization, and contains Sucrose, fructose, etc., have certain damage to tooth enamel.
Drinking a lot of carbonated beverages for a long time can easily cause dental caries and tooth erosion.
What exactly are carbonated beverages
Carbonated beverages are made by filling purified drinking water with carbon dioxide. They are composed of a large number of food additives, including a large amount of sugar, preservatives, pigments, flavors, carbonated water, and a very small amount of vitamins, minerals and phosphoric acid, and other chemical components.
In addition to sugar, which can replenish energy for the human body, aerated “carbonated drinks” contain almost no nutrients, but are popular with the public for their sweet taste.
The harm of carbonated beverages to teeth
The harm of carbonated beverages to teeth cannot be ignored, mainly in two aspects.
First, the low pH (acidity) of the beverage can cause direct erosion and damage to the tooth surface.
Secondly, the fermentable sugar in the beverage diffuses into the dental plaque, which is fermented by microorganisms to produce acid, which leads to the dissolution of the minerals in the tooth enamel and causes dental caries.
At present, there is a direct positive correlation between the prevalence of tooth decay among teenagers and their love to drink carbonated beverages. According to statistics, people who drink sugar-sweetened carbonated drinks more than 3 times more than sugar-free carbonated drinks every day have a 17%-62% higher incidence of dental caries than normal people.
3 types of teeth problem
1. Tooth Erosion
Acid erosion is a disease in which teeth are mainly eroded by acidic substances without the participation of bacteria, resulting in demineralization of the hard tissue of the teeth and chronic destruction.
Carbonated beverages contain a lot of acidic substances. Often drinking a lot of these beverages will keep the mouth in an acidic state for a long time, which will demineralize the teeth and lead to the occurrence of acid erosion.
Erosion is manifested as: in the early stage, there is no obvious parenchymal loss of the hard tissue of the teeth, only the teeth are sensitive to stimuli such as cold, heat, acid, and sweetness.
2. Tooth decay
Carbonated drinks contain a lot of sugar. Drinking too much sugar will provide a good growth and reproduction regulation for bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria in the mouth. These bacteria and residual sugar can increase the acidity in the teeth, between the teeth and in the mouth, making the Teeth decalcify and dissolve to form cavities, leading to tooth decay.
Carbonated drinks also contain a lot of sugar, generally sucrose, fructose, glucose and maltose. A study in the United States found that sugar intake through carbonated beverages accounts for 1/3 of the total sugar intake. Excessive consumption of high-sugar beverages will significantly increase the dental caries rate of sensitive patients.
3. Affects bone development
Health experts remind that drinking too much carbonated beverages, high in phosphorus, may change the body’s calcium and phosphorus ratio.
The researchers also found that compared with people who did not drink too much carbonated beverages, people who drank too much carbonated beverages had a roughly three-fold increased risk of fractures; Possibly a 5-fold increase.
Experts remind that childhood and adolescence are important periods for bone development. Children are very active during this period. If the intake of high phosphorus and low calcium in food is unbalanced, coupled with drinking too much carbonated beverages, enough attention should be paid. Because it may not only have a negative impact on peak bone mass, it may also set the stage for future osteoporosis.
4. Pulpitis
Carbonated drinks contain a lot of acidic substances, including malic acid, citron, etc., and their pH values are mostly 2.6-3.3. After soaking the teeth in cola for 1 hour, Gedalia et al. observed the surface of the tooth enamel under a scanning electron microscope, showing irregular pits.
And tooth enamel has a significant decrease in microhardness. Acid can enter the pits and fissures of the enamel and cause the loss of the tooth surface structure. When the pH value drops, the dissolved amount of hydroxyapatite will increase logarithmically, thereby causing demineralization of the tooth enamel, resulting in softening of the tooth surface. It is easy to wear and tear under physical action, and acid-etched teeth are very prone to caries.
There are many in vitro and in vivo experiments that acidic soft drinks can aggravate the wear of enamel and the exposure of dentinal tubules through the dissolution and demineralization of the hard tissue of the tooth, leading to tooth erosion or dentin hypersensitivity.
Long-term consumption of a large number of carbonated beverages will cause acid erosion and tooth decay on the surface of the teeth to become more and more serious, and even affect the pulp and lead to the occurrence of pulpitis.
Oral care is upgraded again
1. Side effects of fluoride coating
Use fluoride toothpaste to prevent tooth decay in your daily oral care. But fluoride also has some side effects: fluoride application is suitable for remineralization treatment of demineralization of teeth.
In the case of dental fluorosis, applying fluoride will aggravate the symptoms of dental fluorosis. The damaged enamel may appear white spots, or even the entire tooth will be chalky enamel, or it may spread to the entire tooth surface.
Some tooth surfaces may appear yellow-brown changes. Seriously cause substantial defects in the hard tissue of the tooth, and even lose the shape of the tooth. Also, fluoride is toxic and should not be swallowed.
2. Remineralization of synthetic hydroxyapatite
Tooth demineralization is a condition affected by diet, bacteria and limited use of appropriate oral health products.
The acidic by-products produced by cancer-causing bacteria on the tooth surface lead to the loss of calcium and phosphate minerals from tooth enamel. Saliva acts by diluting and neutralizing acids that cause demineralization and is an important natural defense against dental caries. In addition to buffering acids in plaque and preventing demineralization of enamel, saliva also provides a mineral pool adjacent to enamel, which can remineralize and “heal” once the acid is neutralized.
Cinoll’s entire line of teeth whitening products have the leading pap+ whitening formula, and its nano-scale hydroxyapatite can strengthen and repair tooth enamel during the whitening process. Nano-hydroxyapatite (nano-HA), as a source of calcium and phosphate, has been shown to help remineralize and repair tooth surfaces.