Bacteria eat sugar. Bacteria create acid. Acid erodes teeth. More bacteria lead to more acid. More acid leads to faster erosion of your teeth. Basically, an acidic mouth will damage your health in general, and the health of your mouth specifically in two ways:
1-Disrupt a healthy biofilm
2-Create an environment where the enamel crystals of teeth begin to dissolve.
Our modern diets are actually aiding and abetting what amounts to criminal activity by the acid-producing bacteria in your mouth. When you drink a sugary drink such as coke or fruit juice, your oral bacteria are very very happy.
Even if you decide that you’ll stick to drinks, such as a diet soda, that contain no sugar, you are helping your bacteria by adding acids to the mouth. There’s more good news: did you know that almost all sports drinks and sodas have an acid ingredient in them? It’s called phosphoric acid and no, it isn’t good for you! Next time you reach for these drinks, check out the label for ingredients.
Have you ever noticed sensitivity at the gum line? Cold drinks will start to be intolerable? This is not because you are brushing incorrectly or perhaps you need to change to a sensitivity-control toothpaste. The reason for this is because the PH of the mouth has shifted to an acidic environment and that the very fragile and thin enamel at the gum line are starting to get brittle and begin to break off or dissolve.
Unfortunately, women suffer from oral acid problems more because of hormonal imbalance. These acidic moments occur during women’s cycle or menopause and during pregnancy. If there is sensitivity right at the gum line, think acid.
Dentistry is absolutely fantastic for fixing cavities in the teeth but is doing a poor job at eradicating the disease process. It doesn’t take much to disrupt the health of the mouth. We should all be vigilant when it comes to creating a healthy biofilm in the mouth and guarding it from acid-producing bacteria or excessively acidic or sugary drinks and foods and mouth rinses etc. If you’re aware of these dangers, you may not become one of the ninety percent of Americans who will suffer from some sort of dental disease by the time they reach adulthood.
