‘Illicit drugs’ and sodas cause similar dental damage: Study
Professor Mohamed Bassiouny’s paper, Dental Erosion Due to Abuse of Illicit Drugs and Acidic Carbonated Beverages, was published in the March/April 2013 issue of the US Academy of General Dentistry’s peer reviewed journal General Dentistry.
His study compares serious dental damage in three individuals – an admitted user of methamphetamine, a previous long-time user of cocaine and an excessive diet soda drinker – all of whom admitted to poor oral hygiene and not visiting a dentist regularly.
“Each person experienced severe tooth erosion caused by the high acid levels present in their ‘drug’ of choice – met, crack or soda,” Bassiouny said.
Citric acid has high erosion potential
The soda drinker, a woman in her early 30s, drank two liters of diet soda daily for three to five years prior to her case being recorded, with her dentition (tooth condition) in a “catastrophic state”.
He added that the patient’s situation was worsened by junk food consumption and holding acidic beverages in her mouth prior to swallowing.
“The citric acid present in both regular and diet soda is known to have a high potential for causing tooth erosion,” Bassiouny said.
“The striking similarities found in this study should be a wake-up call to consumers who think that soda, even diet soda, is not harmful to their oral health,” he added.
Bassiouny said that for many years high sugar content was thought to be the greatest hazard of sugar-sweetened (regular) soda, contributing to weight gain, obesity and “serious systemic health and dental issues”.
Such beliefs had led avid soft drinks consumers to switch to diet options, he added, but despite differences in sweetening systems, the essential acidic compound found in both regular and diet sodas was citric acid, known for its high erosion potential.
‘Strikingly similar’ tooth destruction results
Decimation of dentition associated with methamphetamine and crack cocaine abuse could masquerade as aggressive destructive lesions of the hard dental tissues, Bassiouny said, and were “strikingly similar” to the advanced dentition destruction associated with excessive diet soda intake.
However, unlike the single source of acid in the case of sodas, ingredients used to prepare methamphetamine also included extremely dangerous, corrosive materials, he added. Battery acid, anti-freeze, hydrochloric acid, drain cleaner and lye, while crack cocaine is highly acidic in nature.
Summing up his study, Bassiouny said: “Although the goal of avoiding weight gain by drinking diet soda is questionable, the danger of the erosive potential of this beverage may not be avoidable, as demonstrated in the present case involving an avid consumer.”
“Dental erosion lesions associated with diet soda could demonstrate similar clinical features and characteristics of destruction in hard dental tissues as those observed in patients who abuse methamphetamine and crack cocaine.”
The only difference was the degree of dentin lesion discoloration, related to the sugar/acid interaction in the medium, they added.
Title: ‘Dental erosion due to abuse of illicit drugs and acidic carbonated beverages’
Author: Bassiouny, M.A
Source: General Dentistry, March/April 2013
