Unveiling the Hidden Dental Hazards of Diet Soda
Anyone who’s seen anti-meth campaigns knows how badly meth can mess up your teeth. And yes, we all know sugary soda is terrible for them too. But here’s the kicker: a new study shows that diet soda might be just as harmful as regular soda, and even as damaging as meth or crack when it comes to ruining your tooth enamel.
Diet Soda’s Impact on Your Teeth
A recent, albeit small, study looked at a woman who consumed an alarming amount of diet soda and compared her dental health to that of two men—one a meth user, the other a crack cocaine user. While this study isn’t conclusive, it definitely rings alarm bells about the dangers of diet soda.
Mohamed Bassiouny, a professor of restorative dentistry at Temple University School of Dentistry, led this eye-opening study published in General Dentistry. They found shocking levels of tooth decay in a woman who drank two liters of diet cola daily. Her dental condition was compared with a 29-year-old meth addict and a 51-year-old crack user. Surprisingly, her teeth were just as decayed as those of the men.
“You look at it side-by-side with ‘meth mouth’ or ‘coke mouth,’ and it’s startling to see the intensity and extent of damage are more or less the same,” Bassiouny remarked.
But why is diet soda so bad for your teeth, even without sugar? The culprit is its high acidity. Diet sodas contain phosphoric acid and citric acid, which are notorious for eroding tooth enamel. While sugar isn’t present, the acids in diet soda can seep into tight spaces, inflicting significant damage.
Bassiouny explained that despite the lack of sugar, the damage from diet soda can be just as severe as that from meth, crack, or regular soda. “Both of them have the same drastic effect if they are consumed in the same frequency, the same amount, and the same duration,” he said.
So, if you think you’re doing your teeth a favor by choosing diet soda over regular, think again. Substituting sugary drinks with their diet counterparts might not really protect your dental health. In fact, highly acidic drinks, including citrus juices and black coffee, can harm your teeth as well.
The woman in the study had such severe damage that all the eroded teeth had to be extracted and replaced with dentures. For someone in their 30s, that’s notably drastic. While this small study isn’t definitive proof, it does raise a red flag about the potential harm of diet soda.
Rethinking Diet Soda for Better Dental Health
Many critics warn about the effects of phosphoric and citric acid in diet soda on dental health. Whether diet soda is as bad as meth, crack, or regular soda is still debated. “It does seem logical to curb any excessive consumption of diet cola to protect your teeth,” says Doctor Kirchmeier.
