Before you take a sweet, refreshing sip of that diet soda sitting in your fridge, you should probably know – your teeth may not find it so refreshing. Even calorie-free soda could harm your teeth.
In the land of oral health, diet soda, meth, and crack cocaine are all equally detrimental, says Dr. Mohamed Bassiouny, a professor of restorative dentistry at the Temple University School of Dentistry in Philadelphia. Despite the lack of sugar, the acidity in all sodas – diet or not – could wreak havoc on your teeth.
According to a new study published in General Dentistry, the erosion and oral damage caused by diet soda is nearly identical to the damage caused by methamphetamine. The study, conducted by Dr. Bassiouny, focused on a woman in her 30s who consumed 2 liters of diet soda each day for three to five years.
During the study, it was discovered that her soft, stained teeth were very similar to those of a 29-year-old methamphetamine user, and a 51-year-old longtime crack cocaine user. What’s more, she reported drinking soda while sitting on the couch and leaning on her left side, causing the soda to collect in the left side of her mouth more often than the right.
The teeth on the left side of her mouth were so damaged they caused a “collapsed bite” and had to be removed.
"You look at it side-to-side with 'meth mouth' or 'coke mouth,' it is startling to see the intensity and extent of damage more or less the same," said Dr. Bassiouny.