Re: Does Carbonation really damage teeth?

"LarryDoc" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
>  lizzard woman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
> >
> > I think you migh be confusing the pH and ionic stregth.
> >
> > The pH of carbonated drinks is extremely low (<2 IIRC) when you first
open
> > the can/bottle but quickly comes up.  It seems to have a low ionic
strength
> > which means that its relatively dilute.  You can have a relatively
dilute
> > solution that has a very low pH.
>
> "Ionic strength"is only a measure of the concentration and charge of
> ions in solution. That can affect the solubility of compounds in the
> solution, but hardly impacts pH as we are talking about what it is when
> it hits your teeth.  Try seeing how much neutral pH water you have to
> add to a quantity of low pH water to raise it. It's in the
> hundreds-to-one ratio.

I was responding to your comment:

"Carbonic acid produced by injecting CO2 into water is simply not that
acidic. The acid level is far less than orange juice."

In fact "carbonic acid produced by injecting CO2 into water" can produe a
VERY acidic solution, pH 2 or or less (as in a can of soda immediately after
it is opened and before much of the CO2 leaves solution.  But that same
solution has a very low ionic strength so it won't burn you.  I don't know
about teh pH of orange juice but I wager it isn;t as low as soda immediately
after the can is opened.  Recall that pH is a log scale so a pH of 2 like
for newly opened soda is EXTREMELY acidic, opposite to what you stated.

I did not imply ionic strength affects pH, only that you seemed to be
conflating the two concepts in your original post.  Although soda might have
a very low pH (when foirst opened), it is not likely to do much damage
because the ionic strength is relatively low.  That is the balance between
H+ and OH- ions is heavly skewed towards the H+ but there are relatively few
TOTAL ions in solution.


> > > But the rest of story, sugary carbonated
> > > drinks with phosphoric acid like colas are a serious issue with regard
> > > to tooth decay, erosion of young enamal, not to mention what it does
to
> > > the gastro-intestinal lining, blood sugar and caloric intake.
> >
> > Why do you think ingested low pH liquids can be more harmful that the
> > extremely low pH of stomach acid?
>
> The stomach is designed to handle (it's own) acids, the teeth and gums
> are not.

You stated:  "But the rest of story, sugary carbonated drinks with
phosphoric acid like colas are a serious issue with regard (snip...) not to
mention what it does to the gastro-intestinal lining,

I was asking about your comment about gastro-intestinal lining, not about
teeth and gums.

So I ask again, how does ingesting phosphoric acid in sugarly carbonated
drinks going to impact the gastro-intestinal lining when that lining is in
fact geared towards a pH environment that is probably much lower than that
of the drink?  It makes no sense tha one could ingest a solution (in this
case a sugary drink) that would have a lower pH than the stomach itself.  So
how does it rise to the level of "serious issue"?

> > > Chewable orange vitamin C tablets
> > > are a real no-no.
> >
> > Why?
>
> The combination of sticky sugar and acids increases the contact time
> with the teeth. Residual sugar in a low pH environment stuck in etched
> teeth makes a nice meal for the bacteria.

> > I buy the ones without sugar for my guinea pigs (they have a high
ascorbic
> > acid requirement) and they eat about one a day like good little pigs.
>
> Ahhh....but does it taste as good?

They like them just fine.  As I said, they are very good girl pigs.

The point is you assumed that all ascorbic acid tablets have sugar and I'm
telling you it is beyond easy to find some that have no sugar whatsoever.

-- 
sharon, momma to savannah and willow (11/11/94)