Greystone Smile Design

The Best Source of Caffeine for Your Oral Health

Can you live without caffeine?  I know I can’t.  I patient recently asked me what the best “source” of caffeine was based on oral health.  A great question! 

My aunt started a new diet, which refrained her from caffeine…and she claimed she lost 6 friends!  As Americans, we are all addicted to caffeine, in one way or another.  Ninety percent of all Americans will ingest caffeine in some form each day.  This fact makes caffeine the most popular drug in America, and one of the most addictive.  Caffeine gives you energy, makes you feel awake, and makes you feel happy. 

The most common delivery methods are via sodas, chocolate, coffee, tea, and energy drinks.  But, which one is best for your teeth?  With our caffeine-crazed society, we’ll explore the good and the bad for the most popular caffeine-containing foods and drinks.  Areas evaluated will be focused on amounts of caffeine, sugar content, teeth staining potential, and erosiveness.

Sodas

Sodas are probably the most common source of caffeine.  From convenience stores to fast food restaurants, sodas have easy availability which adds to their popularity.  But, the caffeine content is relatively low.  Coke and Pepsi contain about 3 mg of caffeine per ounce and about 3.3 grams of sugar per ounce.  Mountain Dew and Mellow Yellow are in the top category for caffeine (about 4.4 mg per ounce) and sugar content (about 4 grams per ounce).  An interesting note:  There is more sugar in caffeine-free sodas and more caffeine in diet drinks.  From a dental standpoint, the ideal soda (and by the way, there is no ideal soda) would be one with lots of caffeine and no sugar.  Diet drinks have no sugar, but the caffeine content is only in the moderate category.  From my research, Pepsi One looks to be the best with no sugar and 4.5 mg of caffeine per ounce (the same as Mountain Dew).

The problem with soda, even those without sugar, is the erosive potential from the acidic ingredients.  This can cause a generalized wear on teeth by eroding away the enamel.  See the post “Is Sour Candy or Original Flavor Worse For Your Teeth” to learn more about dental erosion.  As far as staining teeth, sodas would be in the mild category.  The potential is there due to the dark color of some beverages, but these are usually mild surface stains that can generally be removed by many whitening products.  For more on teeth whitening, check out “Teeth Whitening Myths Uncovered.”

Summary

The Good:  Can have no sugar and has mild effect on teeth staining.

The Bad:  Low levels of caffeine and the erosiveness can cause teeth wear.

Chocolate

There are many different types of chocolate, but most contain only a trace of caffeine (up to 0.5 mg per ounce).  So it’s not the caffeine in chocolate that gives you that “feel-good high.”  It’s the…you guessed it…high sugar content.  I couldn’t find the exact amount of sugar in comparison to soda, but either way, this isn’t the best pick-me-up for your morning commute.  To learn more about sugar and the process of cavity formation, check out “Is Gum Good For Your Teeth.”

Coffee

If you drive by Starbucks at 8 AM, you may think coffee is the most popular source of caffeine.  Well, technically it is.  More caffeine is consumed through coffee than anything else, mainly because coffee has more caffeine per ounce.  Sodas, however, still remain the most common source in the United States.  There are many different kinds of coffee with varying levels of caffeine.  The range is broad, but the most common choices are instant coffee at close to 10 mg per ounce, brewed coffee at about 17 mg per ounce, and espresso at almost 50 mg per ounce.  As far as sugar, coffee itself has none.  The sugar in coffee is from milk or from how much sugar you actually put in it.  Watch out for the Starbucks bottled Frappucino – it’s sugar content rivals that of Coke and Pepsi. 

Some recent research also puts coffee in the ‘good-for-you’ camp.  A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the publication of the American Chemical Society, shows that coffee made from roasted coffee beans has antibacterial activities against certain micro-organisms, including Streptococcus mutans(S. mutans), a major cause of dental cavities.  Who knew!  Coffee possesses little potential for enamel erosion, but does have a high potential for teeth staining.  Dark coffee has been shown to have a direct correlation with increased staining of teeth – the darker the coffee, the more potential for stain.  Makes sense, but an interesting note – darker coffee actually has less caffeine.  So stick with the lighter roast to keep the staining at a minimum.

Summary

The Good – High caffeine content, usually no sugar, little potential for erosion

The Bad – High incidence of tooth staining

Tea

Tea contains antioxidants, which are helpful in preventing cancers and heart disease, but what about oral health.  Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world after water and contains no sugar (unless you add it).  Caffeine levels range from 2 – 6 mg per ounce, higher than soda but less than coffee. 

White tea has been getting lots of press in recent years, not only because of its overall health benefits, but also because of the role it has in a healthy mouth.  Researchers found that drinking a cup or two of white tea between meals can actually prevent cavities and periodontal disease (Visit “The Link Between The Mouth and The Body” for more information on periodontal disease).  White tea has been shown to suppress the growth of cavity causing microbes and interfered with the bacterias ability to stick to teeth.  In another study, people rinsed with tea for one minute 10 times per day. In that study, the more people rinsed, the more their plaque and bacteria levels fell.  Erosion of teeth is pretty much nonexistent, and the potential for teeth stain from white tea is minimal to none. 

Summary

So let me get this straight – White tea is good for your overall health, good for your teeth, has no sugar, has more caffeine than soda, and has little to no erosion or staining consequences.  This gets the #1 spot by a landslide.

Energy Drinks

We’ve found our sure-fire winner in white tea, but lets shed some light on energy drinks.  Most have about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of regular coffee (between 6 – 10 mg per ounce), but it’s the sugar content and erosive potential of some that is worrisome.  5 Hour Energy, 6 Hour Power, Adrenalyn, and Red Bull Energy Shot are a few with no sugar content.  A look at a few other popular brands and the amount of sugar:  Regular Red Bull (3 gr per ounce), Monster products (about 3 gr per ounce), Jolt (4 gr per ounce).  The worst on the list as far as sugar content were Ammo at 7 gr per ounce and Hype at 8 gr per ounce – that’s almost twice as much sugar as Mountain Dew!  The best energy drinks, as far as dental health is concerned, are the “shots” because of the decreased amount that bathes the teeth and the ones with no sugar (of course!). 

What to do to minimize dental issues

Short of quitting caffeine cold-turkey, you can take a few simple steps to keep your drinks from ruining your smile.  First, keeping your teeth sparkling clean is essential.  A whitening toothpaste or over-the-counter whitening products may be helpful for removing surface stains.  Or, an in-office whitening treatment may be in order if the stains don’t cooperate.  Make and keep regular dental cleaning appointments twice each year.  If you just can’t kick the habit of sodas, use a straw. Sipping through a straw protects your front teeth from discoloration and erosion.

Rinse your mouth with water after drinking darker beverages. Everyone wants us to drink more water each day anyway.   Grab a glass or bottle of water (but remember, bottled water doesn’t have fluoride), and swish it around in your mouth to clean your teeth.  Whenever you can, brush your teeth after eating or drinking.  This prevents a film from forming on the surface of the teeth, which contributes to discoloration.

Or just switch your morning routine to white tea and get the best of all worlds!

Related Articles:

5 Ways to Fight Bad Breath

Which Toothbrush Should I Choose?

7 Tips for Handling Dental Emergencies

Related Links:

Greystone Smile Design

Greystone Smile Design Blog

 

  

 

Tags: Dr. Tom Dudney, Dr. Trent Buchanan, Greystone Smile Design

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 9:23 PM and is filed under Diet, Patient Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.