Sports drinks can damage your teeth

GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Just about everyone knows that soda can be bad for your teeth, but two other kinds of popular drinks can seriously damage your teeth as well.
 
22News is working for you with a warning for parents.
 
Sports and energy drinks are extremely popular, especially with teenagers. But its' high acid and sugar content can really wreck your teeth if you're not careful.

"I had no idea", says Greenfield's Emma Sabella.

Many people don't.

"People don't realize the sugar content is pretty high", says Dr. Nancy Hanratty, a dentist at 1st Advantage Dental Group in Greenfield.

Just look at some of these sugar contents.  Energy Drink NOS has 52 grams per serving.  Monster and Red Bull have 27 grams.  Gatorade and Powerade have around 20 grams of sugar.  Compare that to Mountain Dew with 31 grams.   
 
"I think that would be good if people were made more aware that a Gatorade is just a soda without the fizz.  That it's a sugar drink and it's not the same as water", says Greenfield's Will Crawford.

Dr. Hanratty told 22News she sees most of the problems with teenagers.  The liquid pools around your teeth, the plague builds up and the bacteria uses the sugar to break down the surfaces of your teeth.

"The other aspect of it, they tend to have an acid base, so it causes erosion", says Dr. Hanratty.
 
Energy drinks and sports drinks can cause permanent damage to your teeth.  Dr. Hanratty told 22News  you don't need to avoid them completely, but you do need to make sure you take care of your teeth after you drink them.

"The recommendation is always not to just have that to have water after to get the pooling off of your teeth, to rinse it off of your teeth so it's not staying around the surface", says Dr. Hanratty.
 
Dr. Hanratty told 22News that if you do drink sports or energy drinks, to make sure you don't wait too long to brush your teeth afterwards and if possible rinse your mouth out with some water after you have one.