I think root beer has been found to be more or less harmless to teeth so I switched to that.
For whatever reason drinking nothing but water makes the back of my throat hurt after a couple of days. Maybe I’m just used to acidic beverages.
Pretty sure you got that backward.
Would chewing an antacid (Tums) tablet afterward help much?
That will depend on how you define “neutral” and therefore “acidic”.
Neutral in relationship to water, the neutral of chemists, is 7; by that definition, carbonated water with no other acids is acidic, as is vinegar. But the “neutral” used by many people when they talk about things like food or soap is about 4.5: by that definition, carbonated water with no other acids is alkaline, as is vinegar.
One further question: do the high ph drinks such as mineral water build teeth enamel? Maybe you could drink mineral water to counteract the effect of soda drinks. It would sure beat drinking through a straw which pretty much takes the fun out it.
No, your teeth aren’t stalagmites. Sorry.
That’s such a good quip I have to wonder if you know this for fact. :dubious: Until the 60’s, they drank milk and soda in equal portions and enamel erosion maybe wasn’t as much of an issue. Does anyone have any factual answer for this?
You probably like the taste of sour foods/drinks. According to my dentists, what matters isn’t so much how much acid is in your mouth, but how often it is in your mouth.
(This usually comes up around Halloween. Natural bacteria in your mouth turn sugar into acid on the teeth. So they recommend eating the candy in a small number of sittings and brushing after, rather than nibbling on it all day.)
So you can probably drink sour soda once or twice a day safely, but sipping it all day long will damage your teeth. And I guess that’s what you’ve been doing.
I don’t know if I have any useful advice, as I enjoy drinking water, tea, coffee, and milk, all of which you’ve rejected. I enjoy soda as a treat, but drink it one or twice a month. Juice is also sour, and has the double whammy of also containing sugar. As do real sodas, of course, but it sounds like you drink diet soda.
My advice would be to cultivate a taste for teas. Buy several, have a tea-tasting party, learn to appreciate the flavors. Or just drink less often. It does sound like you probably drink a lot more than you need to.
A good reason to stick with soda! 
It’s not that simple. Most of the acids in beverages (citric acid, carbonic acid, phosphoric acid, etc) are also acting as buffers which will prevent changes in pH. In short, a significant fraction of the buffering chemical still has an H+ ion that will be released if you dilute the solution or add a base. The amount of extra H+ ions that could possibly be released by the buffer is hugely in excess of amounts that determine pH. You’d have to dilute the solution by many orders of magnitude to have much of an effect on the pH.
Well I am a dentist and I’ll second the quip and add that teeth also aren’t stalactites.(Hey there are uppers and lowers) All snark aside, teeth are formed of two components an organic one and mineral one. Once formed minor demineralizations that happen in the mouth are corrected by the minerals in the saliva and toothpastes such as Remamel. Mineral water won’t build teeth since that happens while the tooth is inside the jaw but VERY minor repairs can and do take place.
FWIIW teeth actually form from the outside in. The outside layer is formed first and the later layers are formed inside of it. The pulpspace(nerve and blood vessel area where enamal and dentin formation happen) gets smaller over time.
Get a blender and make smoothies. A scoop of sugar syrup, some crushed ice, a jigger of canned milk or half-n-half, toss in the low-acid fruit of your choice and slurp away. My favorites are mango, piña colada and watermelon.
Like I said, I wouldn’t recommend it. But in terms of an acute “kill you” as the fear was expressed? Not something I’d worry about. pH scales and their meaning are widely misunderstood, I’ve found.