Do diet carbonated drinks (diet soda) cause tooth decay?

[brentspeak]

I've become a diet soda freak, and believe it or not, I've never had a cavity. But recently I can feel some of my teeth "change shape", as if they're eroding ever so slightly.

I've heard that carbonated drinks of any type - even diet - can do this, but I'm not sure.

[Shoeempress]

1. The acid in them not so good for your teeth.

[benburch]

4. But they are only very mildly acidic.

The Saliva neutralizes that quickly.

And they do not promote the bacteria that cause decay.

[Shoeempress]

9. Depends on how much you drink.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. It also does a number on

your digestive system.

[Left Is Write]

2. Yes. My dentist told me that sugar free pop can actually be worse

for your teeth than sugared pop because the acid concentration is very high.

He recommended that those who drink pop brush their teeth within twenty minutes afterward.

[Sanity Claws]

3. Calcium loss

My recollection is that something (phosphorus?) in sodas, diet or otherwise, causes calcium to leach from bones and teeth. That would certainly affect your teeth.
Do a google search on it.

[brentspeak]

6. Yikes,

sapping the calcium from my bones. That makes me cringe.

[MissB]

10. Wasn't it the caffeine that did that?

[Sanity Claws]

13. Caffeine and phosphorus

Here's a link that discusses it. There are plenty of other articles out there on this. http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/10/10.cfm

[MissB]

15. Thank you!

I recalled the caffeine part, but not the phosphorus! Thanks for the link.

[trotsky]

5. Use a straw as much as possible.

But yes, they do etch the enamel.

My dentist showed me a chart with the pH of various soft drinks. When they say Coke is like battery acid, that's not all that much of an exaggeration. I don't drink nearly as much pop as I used to, but I still have the occasional can.

[Mistress Quickly]

7. All sodas

are bad for your teeth. The sugar, the acidity.

Another problem is when you sip them all day instead of just drinking them and brushing your teeth. The crap just sits on your teeth eating them away.

I've had a lot of dental work done in the past 2 years. My dentist's advice: its ok to drink a soda now and then, but drink it, be done with it and brush your teeth. And kids don't need to drink soda.

[NoSheep]

8. I started drinking diet ginger ale several years ago and one of my

teeth, that I otherwise had thought was healthy, started hurting sooo bad, I couldn't do my work after lunch. The pain would subside in about 45 minutes. Finally, I went to a dentist and found out it had a crack all the way through and I would need extraction and a false tooth in its place. The pain ONLY occurred after I drank the diet soda. Certainly the crack was not caused by the soda, but nevertheless,I don't drink them at all anymore for that reason. I was never a big soda drinker and I drink beer and other cold drinks all the time. It wasn't the cold, it had to be that drink that aggravated the nerve.

[LastKnight]

11. no, just cancer.

and weight gain, oddly, the artificial sweeteners make you hungry, so in some instances they cause weight gain because people eat more when they drink them. the artificial sweeteners (depending on which one is in a specific soda) can also lead to cancer, weak bones, insomnia, heart disease, ect if consumed in mass ammounts. one a day isnt enough, but if you drink like 3+ cans of diet soda per day for years... you may have a problem. and actuially yea, tooth decay too... im wrong on that lol.

this is all as ive heard it... ive never done the research myself, but i have a friend whos in premed who says thiers links between these types of things and artificial sweeteners.

-LK

[MemphisTiger]

12. Yes, the acid is worse than the sugar that is in

non-diet drinks. I read this on a credible web site about a year ago. I don't have a link, but that was the gist of it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. You are right

The local dental college gives a seminar at my elementary school every year. (It's called STOP THE POP) And they tell the kids the acid is MUCH worse than the sugar.

[supernova]

14. Switch to sparkling water

You get the fizz, a little flavor with lemon or lime essence, and no acids, sugars or artificial sweetners.

[lavenderdiva]

16. here's an article on MSNBC today about diet drinks causing weight gain

link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/13/health/webmd/main701408.shtml

snip:

...She remembers being struck by the scene in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in which Alice is offended because she is offered tea but is given none — even though she hadn't asked for tea in the first place. So she helps herself to tea and bread and butter.

That may be just what happens when we offer our bodies the sweet taste of diet drinks, but give them no calories. Fowler points to a recent study in which feeding artificial sweeteners to rat pups made them crave more calories than animals fed real sugar.

"If you offer your body something that tastes like a lot of calories, but it isn't there, your body is alerted to the possibility that there is something there and it will search for the calories promised but not delivered," Fowler says.

[Aristus]

17. I gave up ALL sodas after watching "Super-Size Me".

Regular and diet. I don't miss 'em. I'm now cutting out caffeine so I can stop drinking coffee, which is my only remaining source for processed sugar. Whenever I can, I drink water.

[MemphisTiger]

18. If that movie doesn't scare you straight, nothing will

[lavenderdiva]

19. ya know, I recorded 'SuperSize Me' on my DVR, and have actually

been too frightened to watch it!

[Aristus]

21. Wait 'till yousee the demonstration at the end of all the sugar, salt

and fat that Morgan Spurlock ate during his month-long experiment. That's what did it for me and sodas.

[AllegroRondo]

23. Theres a great bonus on the DVD

where they take food from McDonalds and from a local burger place (the kind where they make their own fries and patties) and put each item in a glass container. After several weeks, the local food is turning green, the McDonalds food is melting and getting runny, and the McDonalds fries DONT CHANGE AT ALL. Its bizarre. After almost 6 months, the McDonalds fries look like they were just purchased. Imagine what those things do in your stomache.