Dental News - Sports and energy drinks found to erode tooth enamel

Dental Tribune International

Tue. 15 May 2012

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CHICAGO, Ill., USA: Tests on tooth enamel samples have shown that the consumption of sports and energy drinks may result in considerable enamel weight loss within a few days. In a recently published study, researchers have warned that acidic levels in these popular beverages vary significantly between brands and between different flavors of the same brand.

According to a study conducted at the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine, there has been an alarming increase in the consumption of sports and energy drinks with high acid levels in recent years, particularly among children and adolescents.

In order to determine which physiochemical property affects tooth enamel the most, the researchers analyzed fluoride, pH and acidity levels in 13 sports drinks and nine energy drinks.

Four times a day, enamel samples from extracted molars were cyclically exposed to 100 mL of each beverage for 15 minutes and 100 mL of artificial salvia for another two hours.

After only five days, the researchers observed considerable damage to tooth enamel. Energy drinks showed greater potential to damage teeth, since they are significantly more acidic than sports drinks. The mean enamel weight loss was 3.1 percent for energy drinks and 1.5 percent for sports drinks.

Among others, they found that the effect of titratable acidity on enamel depended largely on the pH level, since the severity of enamel dissolution increased as the pH decreased.

Red Bull Sugarfree, Monster Assault, Von Dutch, Rockstar and 5-hour Energy were found to have the highest titratable acidity values among the energy drinks studied. Gatorade Blue was found to have the highest titratable acidity among all sports drinks, followed by Hydr8.

According to the researchers, approximately half of the adolescents and young adults in the U.S. consume energy drinks. Up to 62 percent consume at least one sports drink per day, they suggested.

"Dental professionals should provide guidance to their patients regarding the physiochemical properties of sports and energy drinks and their effects on enamel," they concluded.

The study was published in the May/June 2012 issue of the General Dentistry journal.

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