WHY PROSECCO IS A ‘DOUBLE WHAMMY’ FOR YOUR TEETH
SUNDERLAND DENTIST’S WARNING TO PROSECCO DRINKERS
Sunderland drinkers who are partial to prosecco could be damaging their teeth, a Wearside dentist has warned.
More and more of us appear to have a fondness for Italian fizz, according to latest figures which estimate that the UK drank 77million litres of prosecco last year, compared to just two million litres back in 2009.
But Dr Richard Coates, of Riveredge Cosmetic Dentistry, says prosecco is causing huge problems and is leading to increased levels of both erosion and decay.
Experts say both carbonated soft drinks and fizzy alcohol are both capable of causing huge amounts of damage to teeth because of acid erosion, which can damage both dentine and enamel.
But Dr Coates insists prosecco is twice as problematic than other drinks.
He said: “Prosecco is the double whammy – the acidity causes erosion but because it’s so sweet, it also contributes to tooth decay.
“It is much worse than champagne because that isn’t so sweet.”
Dr Coates says that the lower the PH level, the more damaging it is to the teeth. Dentine dissolves at a PH of 6.5 while enamel dissolves at 5.5.
Prosecco has a PH of 3.25 – the same as some of the most popular soft drinks which have been previously linked with enamel erosion.
“We are seeing more and more people suffering from erosion than decay these days because of the amount of acidity in the liquids they’re drinking,” said Dr Coates.
However, Dr Coates says there are measures that people can take to try to halt damage.
“It may not look very cool but drinking it through a straw rather than a glass can protect teeth,” he said.