pHood for Thought

Have you ever… thought about the pH of the foods you are eating? Or better yet, what about the beverages you drink?

Chances are… you answered “no”, and that’s fine…for now. I never thought about pH outside of chemistry class until becoming a hygienist.

As you may or may not remember, pH is a measurement of how acidic a liquid is.

To give you a few reference points, substances with a pH under 7 are acidic (the lower the number the more acidic), a pH of 7 is neutral (i.e. water) and anything above 7 is considered basic or alkaline.

So what? Why do we care? When our teeth are in an acidic environment they begin to lose minerals, or demineralize, leading to the formation of cavities. The critical pH where this demineralization begins to happen is at 5.5.

This means if you are sipping on an acidic beverage throughout the day with a pH less than 5.5 such as coffee, juice, or soda, you are increasing your risk of developing cavities. I’m not saying you need to go cold turkey on your Starbucks addiction (I am drinking my favorite latte as I write this), but there are a few things you can do to help counteract this risk factor.

#1: Drink your coffee, sports drink, juice, soda, etc. in one sitting. Sipping on an acidic beverage throughout the day will prolong the period of low pH, but if you drink it in one sitting your oral pH will dip below the threshold temporarily and then be brought back up naturally by your saliva.

#2: Avoid making your water unnecessarily acidic by adding flavoring or lemon.

#3: Snacking on cheese can help raise your oral pH, thus helping to prevent cavities.

#4: Use pH boosting spray or gum throughout the day after snacks or coffee breaks to help keep your oral pH elevated.

If you’re interested… in finding out the pH of your favorite drink, you can purchase inexpensive testing strips or litmus paper. You might be surprised to learn the pH of various dental rinses or even bottled water you’ve been drinking!

Have any questions? Just ask!

Source: carifree.com/blog