How your favourite drinks could be destroying your teeth

Sugary drinks are largely to blame for the level of dental decay around the world. Fizzy drinks and fruit juices also contribute to acid erosion of teeth (this means acids breaking down your tooth).

Diet and sugar-free drinks are recommended over sugary drinks as they will not cause dental decay. However, they still cause acid erosion, so it is advised to follow our advice on how to prevent acid wear of your teeth.

As with foods, it is better to drink any sugary drinks in one sitting, rather than taper and sip throughout the day. By sipping and tapering sugary/acidic drinks, you risk constantly bathing teeth in acids and sugars. Bottled drinks are largely to blame for this, as they have a lid making it easy to sip over a long time.

Some people have 8 cups of tea/coffee a day, each with sugar. That’s 8 attacks daily, and that doesn’t even count meals/snacks/other drinks! A huge difference would be made by switching to an artificial sweetener for those who take sugar with their hot beverages.

Top tips:

• Follow our advice on minimising acid erosion
• Avoid sugary and acidic drinks – but if you are going to have the, limit to meal times
• Chew sugar-free chewing gum to balance out the effects of acids and sugars from drinks
• Eliminate habits such as swilling or swishing – this makes acidic drinks even more harmful to your teeth
• Switch to artificial sweeteners instead of sugar in tea/coffee – this could cut down many sugar attacks currently in your diet
• Water is your best friend – there are loads of benefits of drinking water, not just dental!