Does What You Drink Affect the Rate of Tooth Decay?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective is to determine if what you drink can affect the rate of tooth decay due to the acidity and increase in growth of oral bacteria. Methods/Materials Human teeth were incubated in distilled water, Coke, Gatorade, Apple Juice, and RedBull and was observed over time for evidence of tooth decay by weighing each tooth, as decay increases so does the weight of each individual tooth. Drinks were evaluated to determine which caused the most bacterial growth by incubating saliva and the drinks on agar plates. Each drink studied had its pH, sugar content, and initial tooth weight recorded as the start of the experiment. Results The results from the pH and sugar content analyzed proved that Gatorade was the most acidic drink with a pH of 1.5 and had 21 grams of sugar. Drink samples incubated on agar plates with bacteria from mouth swabs showed that Gatorade grew significantly more bacteria than any samples tested resulting in more tooth decay than the other drinks sampled. Conclusions/Discussion The leading cause of tooth decay in American teens is drinking highly acidic drinks like soda or energy drinks. Acid and sugar-fed bacteria invades the innards of the tooth when tooth enamel has decayed from saturation of the acid and bacteria causing tooth decay. Current research has shown that the worst factors to cause tooth decay is high acidity and an increase in harmful oral bacteria.

Competition history

• CSEF 2014 Pharmacology/ Toxicology · Entry J1733

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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