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Having a great smile can take you far in life – it can boost your confidence and lighten up the days of those you come into contact with. Having a great smile means you need to have great teeth though and for great teeth a rugged oral hygiene routine is essential whether your teeth are your own, whether they’re dentures or even whether they’re dental implants (to keep up to pace with the modern world). Have you ever heard of anyone using carbonated soda as a mouth rinse? Questions like -- Is it safe? Won’t it destroy your teeth? -- may spring to mind. However, for those with dental implants a fizzy drink can be just what’s needed to wash away particles of food after a meal and make the mouth feel fresh again. Carbonated drinks contain acid which, according to dentists, will damage teeth as acid erosion will occur. The severity of the damage will depend on the duration of use and the acid level of the soda. However, teeth implants will not get damaged because these are made from titanium, plastic, porcelain or other metals. None of these substances are at risk of corrosion caused by carbonated drinks. Let us examine the reason behind this. A compound with a pH value that is near zero increases its ability to wear away the enamel of teeth. Neutral, water has a pH of 7. With a pH of about 3, a carbonated beverage will definitely cause the tooth enamel to erode unlike water which is neutral. Believe it or note, there’s a recognized condition known as “soda swishing” – this is the practice of swishing soda round inside the mouth and not swallowing until all the fizz is gone. This is severely damaging to teeth and should be discouraged at all times. After all, have you seen what happens to a coin if you leave it in a glass of soda overnight – it comes out all shiny because the acid eats away at all the residue on it? The acid eats away at the enamel on teeth in the same way – but instead of making them look all shiny, the enamel disappears, leaving behind brown stumps. With this sort of damage being done to enamel, it doesn’t take a huge leap of the imagination to realise the sort of damage these sort of drinks do to your digestive system, so it’s not really to be advised when cleaning dental implants. If you can’t get to the bathroom, a swish of water is much safer than a swish of soda. With dental implants becoming more popular, research is increasing to find the best ways of maintaining and cleaning the implants. Up to date research suggests that a water flosser is the best method. The force of water is more efficient compared with floss in cleaning the area round the tooth implant. Water flossers are used by dental hygienists when performing a deep clean but domestic models are becoming increasingly available.
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