Should Athletes Smile?

Top athletes may consume up to 10 litres a day of re-hydrating sports drinks – but new research shows that this may be having a disastrous effect on their teeth!

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have been conducting extensive research into sports drinks and have discovered that they are a major cause of tooth erosion in athletes, having as much as 30 times the erosive potential of ordinary water.

Not only can they dissolve away the enamel but may actually dissolve away the hard dentine underneath it, exposing the pulp and leading to serious problems requiring treatment.

And it’s not just athletes that are at risk. Many modern soft drinks have the potential to cause similar levels of dental erosion. Researchers at the University of Birmingham hope their work will go a long way towards addressing this problem, paving the way for the development of new commercial products that actually have low erosive potential and therefore minimise the damage to our teeth.