In terms of tooth decay, when weighing the effects of Coca Cola and energy drinks on teeth, you probably wouldn’t guess which one is worse. We’ve written about how sugary energy drinks are bad for your teeth. The combined acid and sugar in sodas certainly don’t help dental health either.
The Birmingham MAIL reported about an interesting experiment a dentist did to see which beverages were the worst on teeth.
Tooth Decay Experiment Comparing Coca Cola and Energy Drinks
A dentist named Dr. Bierman used his own extracted wisdom teeth to conduct an experiment on the effects of beverages on teeth. Granted, no teeth get the exposure that his extracted teeth received because he dropped them into bottles of beverages.
Here’s how he conducted his experiment:
- One tooth went into a popular energy drink bottle
- The second tooth went into a bottle of regular Coke.
- The third tooth went into a bottle of Diet coke.
- The fourth tooth went into water, which was used as a control group.
What the Experiment Discovered
The teeth sat for two weeks, and here’s what he found:
- The Coca-Cola tooth was stained and almost completely black
- The Diet Cola tooth didn’t have much change but was certainly stained
- The energy drink tooth was the worst — chunks of enamel actually fell off and the tooth looked pink and rust colored. The rust color areas had been yellow to begin with.
Dr. Bierman became motivated to do the test when he read that one out of seven of new energy drinks are too corrosive to package in aluminum cans.
What happened with the energy drink tooth is that the acidic elements in the drink stripped enamel away and exposed the dentin layer of the tooth. Dentin exposure produces risks of tooth decay and can cause pain and sensitivity.
Dr. Baker can provide you with information that helps prevent tooth decay to help you avoid unnecessary tooth pain and sensitivity.
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