Our thanks to biological dentist Dr. Veronica Montgomery at Boise Caring Dentistry for letting us share this recent post from her office…
Like most soft drinks, energy drinks aren’t exactly kind to the enamel that protects the living tissues within each of your teeth. They’re too acidic, and it’s even worse when they contain sugar. Harmful bacteria feed on the stuff, and the waste they generate turns the environment even more acidic.
Both sources of acids can destroy enamel, making the teeth more vulnerable to decay.
Unsurprisingly, some have wondered if a more tooth-friendly energy drink is possible. In a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed study, a group of Brazilian researchers say “possibly so.”
To investigate, the team added various calcium formulations to Red Bull and then tested the effect of the drinks on the enamel after just a couple minutes of exposure. While all versions of the additive were found to reduce a drink’s erosive potential, none – even their most protective one, a calcium/phosphorus/potassium complex – could actually prevent it.
(Aside: If you’re curious to know what Red Bull exposure can do to a tooth over time, check out this short video.)
While the science is interesting, the underlying philosophy reveals something troubling about the common approach to oral health: Instead of addressing root causes, we’re accepting tooth damage as inevitable and acting as though harm-reduction is the best we can do.
It’s the same kind of thinking that supports water fluoridation despite the demonstrated risks it poses to children’s neurodevelopment and human health more generally. It rests on the assumption that people can’t help but make poor choices, and there’s nothing we can do about that, so we might as well try to minimize the damage.
But what if, instead of accepting enamel damage and eventual tooth decay as inevitable, we focused on supporting your body’s natural ability to protect and restore enamel?
Indeed, your mouth has sophisticated natural defense mechanisms. When we support them, we can not only prevent further erosion but even undo some of the damage wrought by eating an ultra-processed diet that’s high in sugars and other highly refined carbohydrates.
Keep in mind that when you feed on these things, so do the harmful bacteria that live in your mouth. When they feed on sugars, starches, and highly refined carbs – from energy drinks, yes, but also from seemingly innocent foods like crackers, bread, and pasta – they generate highly acidic waste products. This creates a chronic erosive environment.
Saliva is your first defense against damage, naturally buffering acids so your mouth can remain pH neutral or even slightly alkaline between meals. Not only does this maintain a healthy balance of microbes in the mouth. It supports the natural remineralization of your teeth by delivering essential minerals to them.
Enamel is made almost entirely of a mineral compound called hydroxyapatite (HAP), a form of calcium phosphate. Your teeth need calcium and phosphate, as well as magnesium and trace minerals, to maintain and repair the enamel. Vitamins D3 and K2 are also essential for making sure that the calcium gets where it’s needed.
Maintaining a healthy diet is key to supporting this process. That means a diet that’s centered on whole food, real food – high quality proteins, fresh produce, healthy fats, minimal refined carbs, and little to no added sugars. It also means staying well-hydrated with plenty of fluoride-free water, as dehydration means less saliva production. Lifestyle factors such as chronic stress, poor sleep, and certain medications can all reduce saliva production, too. (Even worse: Chronic stress can contribute to clenching and grinding habits, which can also wear down enamel.)
On the hygiene side, consider switching to a fluoride-free hydroxyapatite toothpaste to give your enamel a little extra replenishment in a biocompatible way. HAP toothpastes actually integrate with your tooth structure to fill microscopic defects and strengthen weakened areas. According to one of the most recent scientific reviews, HAP performs slightly better than fluoride when compared head-to-head.
When enamel erosion has already occurred, ozone therapy can be particularly helpful by removing microscopic debris from tooth surfaces, then oxidizing and disinfecting the dentinal tubules. This allows natural minerals like hydroxyapatite to better penetrate and plug these tubules, reducing sensitivity while promoting natural remineralization.
Another option is to have the affected teeth bonded, replacing the lost enamel with tooth-colored composite. The composites we use contain no fluoride or BPA, and we can always order biocompatibility testing to make sure that we choose a brand of material that will be in harmony with your unique biochemistry.
That said, there’s one thing that is absolutely crucial to remember: Supporting the ongoing natural remineralization of your teeth in the way we’re describing is NOT the same thing as growing new tooth structure. Once your teeth are developed, you no longer have the cells needed to grow more tooth enamel. Some degree of dental work is needed to restore the lost structure and appearance of the natural tooth that’s been eroded.
Your teeth weren’t designed to just survive a lifetime of abuse. They were designed to thrive. Rather than accepting that we’ll continue consuming tooth-destroying substances and hoping to engineer “safer” versions, biological dentistry offers a fundamentally different approach. It recognizes that your mouth is designed to be healthy when given proper support.
That’s the difference between damage control and true health – and it’s why more people are choosing biological dentistry for themselves and their families.
