It's easy to understand why soda is such a popular beverage: it's inexpensive, tastes good and many varieties give that much needed caffeine boost to make it through the morning or the mid-afternoon. However, the negative effects that soda has on your teeth lessens its benefits. Your dentist in Huntsville, Alabama, Dr. Michael Pugh, sees many patients at Artistic Dentistry who have extensive tooth decay due to their soda habit. You'll learn why soda - even the diet alternatives - have earned such a bad reputation.

Regular soda

Everyone knows that sugar is bad for your teeth. But do you know why? It turns out that sugar is easily fermented, or broken down, by the naturally-occurring bacteria in your mouth. As this sugar ferments, it creates an acid that eats away at the healthy structure of teeth. Your Huntsville dentist is particularly concerned about patients who have an all-day soda habit; the teeth are constantly coated in sugar, never giving the saliva much of a chance to rinse it away.

Diet soda

Diet soda was created in the early 1950's for diabetic people who still wanted to enjoy a fizzy beverage; it originally contained a sugar substitute called saccharin. Many decades later, diet soda continues to be popular for those who need or want to regulate their sugar intake - the National Center for Health Statistics estimates that about one-fifth of the population drinks it daily. However, diet soda has never been intended as a dental-friendly drink. Why? Two of the main ingredients in most diet sodas are phosphoric acid and citric acid, which means that the erosive effect on your teeth is still present when you drink sugar-free soft drinks.

While most people can enjoy soda infrequently, dentists agree that the best drink for your teeth, as you might imagine, is pure water. If you think your soda habit may be causing you problems, contact Artistic Dentistry in Huntsville, Alabama to schedule an appointment with Dr. Michael Pugh.