Energy drinks, such as Red Bull and Monster Energy are destroying teenager’s teeth a study at the Academy of General Dentistry in the US has claimed. According to the research, the beverages have such a high acid content that they can cause enamel erosion in as little as five days.
Author of the paper, Dr Poonam Jain, said that most of the patients were surprised to learn that energy drinks were the cause of their dental problems, and many were consuming them in the belief that they were choosing the healthy option; ‘Young adults consume these drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are ‘better’ for them than soda.’ Dr Jain added that these products were ‘essentially bathing their teeth with acid.’
Although the acid levels in the drinks vary from brand to brand, the researchers found that irreversible damage could be done to the enamel surface of the teeth in only a few days, particularly if the person was to drink one every couple of hours. It was also revealed that energy drinks were almost twice as harmful as sports drinks.
Spokesperson for the Academy, Dr Jennifer Bone, said that teenagers often come to her with toothache and decay without understanding the cause; ‘We review their diet and snacking habits and then we discuss their consumption of these beverages. They don’t realise that something as seemingly harmless as a sports or energy drink can do a lot of damage to their teeth.’