Dental heatlth & sports drinks

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Anonymous's picture
Anonymous

"A friend of mine is a cariologist and significant dental researcher. I emailed him regarding sports drinks yesterday. Here is a quote from his reply:

"" Very apropos giving your inquiry about sports drinks. On a similar vain I was at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute several weeks ago for a ""Dental Summit"". They aren't too worried about dental caries, although they should be. Their main concern is bad press about dental erosion. I'm trying to convince them to add calcium to their sports drinks, which can greatly counteract the bad affects of the cariogenic sugar and erosive citric acid in all of their products. ""


""There is a lot of awareness of dental erosion in Europe, but hardly any recognition of the problem in the States. The worst thing that an athlete can do is constantly sip on sport drinks, soft drinks or juices while they are exercising. I'm pretty certain that the camel packs used by cyclists and other athletes are leading to major dental problems. Your idea of grouping the carbohydrate and acid exposure together followed by rinsing with a buffering solution (sodium bicarbonate) to neutralize plaque biofilm acid as well as dietary acid is a good one. Chewing sugar-free gum is another way to go after a sugar/acid beverage, because it will stimulate salivary flow, which will rapidly clear the beverage from the mouth and increase the buffering capacity of saliva to neutralize the plaque and dietary acid. Chewing gum has also been show to improve mental focus, which could be of use to a competitive athlete.""
"

Anonymous's picture
Hank Schiffman (not verified)
an informal survey

How many of you who have been caries-free prior to cycling/sipping on sports drinks now are getting tooth decay?

Anonymous's picture
melissa (not verified)
Seven straight years and counting....

As a triathlete, I've been sipping sports drinks regularly for at least the last seven years. I'm caries free. In fact, I have always been and continue to be cavity free. That being said, I also drink a lot of water, which I'm sure helps wash the scary caries-causing gatorade off my pearly whites.

Anonymous's picture
Hank Schiffman (not verified)
Did you have fluoride in your water as a child? (nm)
Anonymous's picture
melissa (not verified)

yes

Anonymous's picture
Hank Schiffman (not verified)
Thank your good fortune!

You can't beat good protoplasm.

Anonymous's picture
Neile (not verified)

Am a recent convert to Gatorade.

What would recommend as a substitute for the electrolyte replenishment?

Anonymous's picture
Hank Schiffman (not verified)
No suggestions other than,

keeping your sugar drinks in as compact a time frame as possible. Then rinsing or drinking water right afterwards. I don't know how strong to mix a sodium bicarbonate solution for rinsing, which, as stated may be helpful.

Anonymous's picture
Adam Hagan (not verified)

As a dentist I love seeing people concerned about their oral health and now combined with cycling...my two favorite things. I would also like to remind those who don't have cavities (caries) that it is a combination of sugars (bacteria-food) and genetics. Some of you fortunate cyclist/souls will have few or no cavities, which is though to be attributed to 'good saliva's' ability to buffer the acidic environment created by the bacterial colony. For most of us…we’re not so lucky.

Two reasons why cyclist should care;

(1) For women, poor oral health is strongly associated with pre-term birth (leading cause of infant mortality in US), and their is some association with increased risk of CHD (heart disease).

(2) 'Fake plastic teeth' and a vegetable grinder is a poor way to live the rest of your life.

Thanks Hank for your insight and bringing this to the clubs attention!

Anonymous's picture
bill vojtech (not verified)

Two reasons why cyclist should care;

(1) For women, poor oral health is strongly associated with pre-term birth (leading cause of infant mortality in US), and their is some association with increased risk of CHD (heart disease).
---------
Correlation does not prove causation. The same women who fail to take care of their teeth probably also fail to get pre-natal care. The cause could be economic, social, etc.

Anonymous's picture
Adam Hagan (not verified)
Intro to Epidemiology

"You are 100% correct Bill, in medicine their are no certainties. Thus, we must rely on sound epidemiological investigations to tell us 'risk factors' and years of basic science research to understand mechanisms of action.

However, with that said the mechanism of action for the multiplicative effect of smoking and heavy drinking are not understood, BUT in populations studied it confers a 9.7OR (or ~10X increased risk) of multiple cancers. By the same logic would you suggest we all become raging alcoholics and smokers? No of course not, no sane person would.

Lastly, I must address your comment ""the same women who fail to take care of their teeth probably fail to get pre-natal care,"" you are referring to confounders, which are well realized and accounted for by research scientists (the NIH doesn't go handing out millions of dollars without taking into account your observation of SES).

Thank you for brining our attention to and helping us dispel some common misconceptions and ignorance’s.
"

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