{"id":404255,"date":"2018-02-25T10:04:52","date_gmt":"2018-02-25T10:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=404255"},"modified":"2018-02-25T10:05:38","modified_gmt":"2018-02-25T10:05:38","slug":"sipping-fruit-teas-damages-teeth-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/02\/sipping-fruit-teas-damages-teeth-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Sipping fruit teas ‘damages teeth’ – Study"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sipping acidic drinks such as fruit teas and flavoured water can wear away teeth and damage the enamel, an investigation by scientists has shown.<\/p>\n
The King’s College London team found that drinking them between meals and savouring them for too long increased the risk of tooth erosion from acid.<\/p>\n
The research, in the British Dental Journal, looked at the diets of 300 people with severe erosive tooth wear.<\/p>\n
It said the problem was increasing as people snacked more.<\/p>\n
Fruit squashes, cordials, fruit teas, diet drinks, sugared drinks and flavoured water are all acidic and can cause wear and tear to teeth, the researchers said.<\/p>\n
And continuously sipping or holding these drinks in the mouth before swallowing increased the risk of tooth erosion.<\/p>\n
Dr Saoirse O’Toole, the lead study author, from King’s College London Dental Institute, said: “If you drink things for long periods of time, greater than five minutes, or if you play with things in your mouth or if you nibble on fruit over a few minutes rather than eating them as a whole fruit – these are things that can really damage your teeth.<\/p>\n
“If you’re going to have an apple as a snack at lunchtime, then try not to have anything acidic later on in the evening.<\/p>\n
“If you are going to have a glass of wine in the evening, then don’t have your fruit tea in the morning.<\/p>\n
“Just balance things in your diet.”<\/p>\n
The researchers found people who had drinks such as water with a slice of lemon or hot fruit-flavoured teas twice a day between meals were more than 11 times more likely to have moderate or severe tooth erosion.<\/p>\n
But this figure was halved when the drinks were taken with meals.<\/p>\n
Sugar-free soft drinks were as erosive as sugar-sweetened ones, the report said. And vinegars and pickled products could also lead to tooth erosion.<\/p>\n
What drinks are acidic?<\/strong><\/p>\n Which ones are not?<\/strong><\/p>\n Russ Ladwa, who chairs the British Dental Association’s health and science committee, said of acidic drinks: “Having them with a meal helps to minimise the damage because chewing meal food increases the production of saliva, which is alkaline and acts a buffer to dilute acidic foods and drinks.<\/p>\n “We would promote the chilling of drinks, consuming them in one go – don’t sip over long periods – and limiting soft drinks to meal times.”<\/p>\n And using a straw would avoid the acid in drinks making contact with the teeth.<\/p>\n Mr Ladwa added that consuming water, nutritious drinks such as milk and having neutralising food such as cheese after acidic food or drink was a good idea.<\/p>\n\n
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