# Diet Soda... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-soda/255525 "2004-07-17T01:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![VenusGirlTrap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/58956e/32.png) [@VenusGirlTrap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VenusGirlTrap)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-soda/255525/1 "2004-07-17T01:21:00Z")
Last time I went to the dentist and I had 3 cavaties and he told me not to drink soda because it’s like acid on the teeth. Does this apply for diet soda too? What about stuff like diet Snapple? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-soda/255525/2 "2004-07-17T01:28:28Z")
Most cola sodas have phosphoric acid in them. Just read the ingredients. Notice the slight burn on your tongue with the first swallow? Fruit drinks don’t haVE IT. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-soda/255525/3 "2004-07-17T03:27:50Z")
Fruit drinks have citric or asorbic acid. Acid = bad for teeth = anecdotal evidence? ---
**Author:** ![Josh\_dePlume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Josh\_dePlume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Josh_dePlume)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-soda/255525/4 "2004-07-17T03:30:30Z")
Why do people post questions like this here rather than asking the dentist that gave them the advice? ---
**Author:** ![Severian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Severian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Severian)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-soda/255525/5 "2004-07-17T03:40:46Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Fruit drinks have citric or asorbic acid. > > Acid = bad for teeth = anecdotal evidence? Maybe? [Maybe](http://www.agd.org/consumer/topics/decay/main.html) [not](http://www.mndental.org/dental_health/sip_decay/hard_facts/)? ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-soda/255525/6 "2004-07-17T03:44:22Z")
It does not apply to diet soda. The acids in soda (phosphoric, citric, carbonic, whatever) are extremely water soluble, and are washed off the teeth almost immediately. Trouble comes when you get plaque trapping sugar and bacteria right up next to your enamel surface, which allows the acidic excretions of the bacteria to start carving up your tooth surface. [Here](http://www.doctorspiller.com/Decay.htm) is a link to a page on one of the best dental sites I’ve been able to find – he specifically addresses the question of diet soda. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-soda/255525/7 "2004-07-17T04:44:03Z")
> [@Severian](#): > > [Maybe](http://www.agd.org/consumer/topics/decay/main.html) [not](http://www.mndental.org/dental_health/sip_decay/hard_facts/)? I wonder who wrote that Minnesota Dental Association page. **"Acid in soft drinks, whether they contain sugar or not, is the primary cause of weakening tooth enamel."** I’m pretty sure the primary cause of weakening tooth enamel is trapped bacterial secretions, not acid from soda. **"Regular pop is high in sugar. And diet or ‘sugar-free’ pop is high in acid."** So sugar-sweetened sodas _aren’t_ “high in acid”? And how much acid is “high,” anyway? Hmm, well, putting that aside, what about the fact that those water-soluble acids are going to be washed off your teeth in minutes by your saliva, unless you are holding swigs of your favorite diet carbonated beverage in your mouth for days? Maybe they do understand that and they’re just following “better safe than sorry” logic by recommending you drink only water, because if they said diet sodas are okay, somebody might keep their teeth bathed in diet soda for twenty hours each day and complain when they found a cavity. Yeah, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![VenusGirlTrap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/58956e/32.png) [@VenusGirlTrap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VenusGirlTrap)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-soda/255525/8 "2004-07-17T20:00:06Z")
“Drinking Diet Coke, Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Diet Kool-Aid or any other artificially sweetened drink does not cause any decay at all, because artificial sweeteners are not metabolized into acid by the germs in your mouth. information about the toxicity of artificial sweeteners like Nutrasweet®, saccharine and Splenda®, click here.”-from the page chorpler posted. Ok, that manes my hunch was correct. For years I had only had a few cavaties and in the past few years I have had 5. I used to drink only diet Coke and now I drink regular. I guess I better switch back.