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Soft drinks are everywhere, even in our children’s schools. As a society, we are consuming them in ever-increasing quantities. The result is a new and detrimental phenomenon: acid erosion is destroying the tooth enamel of entire generations- and once the protective coating of enamel on our teeth is lost or compromised, we are extremely susceptible to further erosion and decay.

Acidic beverages, like soft drinks, sports drinks and artificially flavored ice teas, have replaced water as our daily choice of liquid replenishment. The difference? Water has a pH of 6.7, making it relatively neutral. Some of today’s most frequently consumed beverages have pH’s of fewer than 3.0. Scientifically, this is even worse than it sounds because each unit of change towards a more acidic numeric value on the pH register is an exponential change, creating a huge difference in effects.

The table below shows the relative pH’s of some leading beverages. The lower the number, the more acidic and destructive the beverage.

• Coca-Cola ® (bottle) 2.48
• Diet Coca-Cola ® (bottle) 3.22
• Pepsi-Cola ® (can) 2.60
• Diet Pepsi-Cola ® (can) 2.94
• Dr. Pepper ® (bottle) 2.90
• Diet Dr. Pepper ® (bottle) 2.99
• Mountain Dew ® (bottle) 3.14
• Diet Mountain Dew ® (bottle) 3.27
• Sprite ® (can) 3.27
• Diet Sprite ® (can) 3.34
• Canada Dry Ginger Ale ® (can) 2.94
• A & W Root Beer ® (can) 4.80
• Arizona Iced Tea ® (can) 2.94
• Brewed Black Tea 5.36
• Brewed Black Coffee 6.25
• Tap Water (Control) 6.70

Fortunately, enamel is the hardest material that our body produces. It is far denser than bone and can endure consumption of controlled levels of dietary acids. However, drinking more than two or three servings of acidic beverages per day can cause enamel to be reduced to a detrimental level in time. In other words, the more you drink, the more you are literally dissolving away your teeth.

Unfortunately, as a society we have embraced mass consumption of acidic beverages. People see ads stating that a soft drink has only a few calories and feel that gives license to ingest large amounts without consequences. We keep a can of diet pop within arms reach throughout the day to "keep us going" and "decrease food cravings." We rejoice when, for a mere quarter, we get to refill a 48 oz. cup of soda as many times during the day as we’d like.

The impact of this trend goes beyond the erosion of tooth enamel. Health professionals who treat kidney disease recognize the correlation between increased consumption of soda pop and increased numbers of patients on dialysis.

Regardless, we have allowed the installation of pop machines in our schools, often as a way of generating funds for programs in need of revenue. Yet, by doing so, we have unknowingly yielded to the tactics of corporate entities bent on creating generations of soft drink addicts. Tough as it may seem, refusing to support school programs by refusing to purchase soft drinks would be doing your children a far greater service. Find a way to raise money for programs that is less costly to your children’s health.

The next time your school system asks for your permission to install soft drink machines and/or serve soft drinks during meals, ask yourself, "Is it worth it?"