The Wisdom Tooth

A common question dentists are frequently asked: “Is sparkling water OK for my teeth?”.

The answer to that question is not straight forward and we will discuss why in this post.

What is Sparkling Water and how is it made?

Sparkling water is made by injecting Carbon Dioxide gas into water under pressure. Devices like Sodastream and Qarbo have made this process easier and more accessible to people.

Sparkling water can exist in a few different forms such as soda water, tonic water etc. These differences are based on varying amounts of minerals and other compounds that exist naturally in the water supply or are added during production. Several popular soft drinks, some sport drinks as well as certain alcoholic drinks are made using some form of sparkling water.

It is important to note that for all forms of sparkling water, the injection of Carbon Dioxide into water results in the formation of Carbonic Acid.

But water is water right – sparkling or not?

Drinking water is definitely the best drink. But sparkling water can be acidic. Drinking any acidic drink creates an episode of an acid attack on the enamel of your teeth. However, there is more than just the acid attack that can be detrimental.

A lot of sports drinks, soft drinks and even some alcoholic drinks that are made with sparkling water have high amounts of sugars in them that can cause damage to teeth through decay which is in addition to the acidity of the sparkling water causing erosion.

So, is sparkling water OK for my teeth?

Like most foods and drink, everything can be OK in moderation. Plain sparkling water is definitely better than a flavoured one, especially ones that have large amounts of sugars. Drinking sparkling water with a meal or during special events is fine, but it might be better and cheaper to stick to plain water most of the time.

By The Wisdom Tooth 2 March 2022

Between causing bouts of discomfort on unwary mouths and hiding in dark corners, the wisdom tooth shares snippets of wisdom from the field of dentistry.