Energy Drinks Permanently Damage Teeth

About 50 percent of teens consume energy and sports drinks. That can lead to serious problems. Researchers have found that these energy-boosting beverages cause irreversible erosion of tooth enamel.

In this study, scientists immersed tooth enamel in a sports or energy drink in the lab under conditions that replicate what happens in your mouth when you indulge in an energy drink. The results weren’t pretty.

“Young adults consume these drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are ‘better’ for them than soda,” says Poonam Jain, B.D.S., M.S., M.P.H., lead author of the study. “Most of these patients are shocked to learn that these drinks are essentially bathing their teeth with acid.”