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Which is better for your teeth, Pepsi or coffee?

Dear Gramps,
Which is better for your teeth, Pepsi or coffee?

Katie, from Tennessee

Dear Katie,

Neither Pepsi nor coffee is good for your teeth. However, one is more damaging to your teeth than the other. In one can of regular Pepsi there are 41 grams of sugar, or 8.2 teaspoons full. There are also about 38 grams of caffeine in a can of Pepsi. In one cup of coffee, depending on the person, there may be zero to three or four teaspoons of sugar. However, in the same volume of coffee and Pepsi, coffee contains 5.7 times more caffeine than does Pepsi. The effect of caffeine on teeth is secondary. Caffeine tends to make saliva production more difficult, thus making the teeth more susceptible to the bacteria that destroy tooth enamel.

However, a primary cause of tooth decay is related to the amount of sugar ingested. The effect of sugar on teeth is to supply food for bacteria which produce acids that dissolve tooth enamel. In addition, the effervescence of all soda pop drinks comes from the carbonic acid in the drinks. This acid, the same as the acids produced by the microbes that are fed by the sugar in the drinks, also promotes tooth decay for the same reason.

So I would assume that tooth decay from drinking Pepsi would be greater than tooth decay from drinking coffee.

Gramps

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