Richard says the UK’s love affair with prosecco is causing huge problems and is leading to increased levels of both erosion and decay.
The warning comes on the back of figures which recently revealed the UK’s prosecco drinking habits have risen from two million litres in 2009, to an astonishing 77m last year – which accounts for one third of all of the prosecco drank in the world.
Carbonated soft drinks and fizzy alcohol are both capable of causing huge amounts of damage to teeth because of acid erosion, which can damage both dentine and enamel.
But, according to Richard, prosecco is twice as problematic as other drinks.
“Prosecco is the double whammy – the acidity causes erosion but because it’s so sweet, it also contributes to tooth decay,” he said. “It is much worse than champagne because that isn’t so sweet.”
Richard says that the lower the pH level, the more damaging it is to the teeth.
Dentine dissolves at a pH of 6.5 while enamel dissolves at 5.5.
Prosecco has a pH of just 3.25 – the same as some of the most popular soft drinks which have been previously linked with enamel erosion.
“We are seeing more and more people suffering from erosion than decay these days because of the amount of acidity in the liquids they’re drinking.
“It may not look very cool but drinking it through a straw rather than a glass can protect teeth.
“But the main solution is to make sure that you don’t over indulge by drinking more than a couple of glasses at any one time.
“At the same time people should wait a few hours before brushing their teeth if they’ve been drinking prosecco or other fizzy drinks, to give the enamel time to harden up again.”
For further information visit www.riveredge.co.uk or call 0191 567 1020.