In 2007, research on the acidic nature of popular colas was published in the AmericanAcademy of General Dentistry’s journal General Dentistry. The researchers first measured the acidity, or pH, of several soft drinks, including colas such as Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi and non colas such as 7Up, Sprite and Mountain Dew.

They then weighed slices of fresh enamel from freshly extracted teeth before immersing them in plastic vials containing 5ml of the beverages. After 48 hours, the slices of enamel were weighed again.

The results may surprise you. The slices of teeth immersed in Pepsi and Coca-Cola lost more than 5% of their weight in 48 hours. However, the enamel loss with Mountain Dew and sprite was close to 5% and with 7Up was even higher than with Pepsi and Coca-Cola. The diet versions of these drinks showed lower loss of enamel.

The researchers concluded that erosive potential of soft drinks was not related to their acidity. Colas on an average were more acidic, but non colas, which were less acidic, caused just as much enamel loss as colas.

It’s true that the study did not take into account protective factors such as tooth-brushing and diluting effect of saliva. But it’s clear that carbonated soft drinks, Coca-Cola and Non Cola, can cause significant loss of tooth enamel (although a tooth soaked in Coke overnight is not going to dissolve completely!)

If you want to enjoy carbonated drinks while minimizing damage to your teeth:

• Go for diet version rather than the sugared version.
• Drink it with meals, rather than between.
• Drink through a straw and swallow each sip quickly.
• Use fluoride toothpaste, but wait for an hour after drinking before brushing as the drinks can harm the weakened enamel.