As a follow up to my recent post on how mouthwash may actually be causing your bad breath, I thought it would be fitting to write again on the topic of proper oral care (I'm sure there are plenty of disappointed people who ended up at this site after Googling those last two words). Specifically, I wanted to tackle the question of whether soft drinks are bad for your teeth.

Obviously, the high amount of sugar in soft drinks can wreak havoc on your teeth, so that's pretty much a given. Does this mean that you're in the clear if you drink sugar-free soft drinks? Not at all, says an article that appears in the November 2007 issue of General Dentistry, the the Academy of General Dentistry's (AGD) clinical, peer reviewed journal. The study focused mostly on sugar-free energy drinks, a beverage market that is expected to reach $10 billion in growth by 2010.

According to the article, pH levels are not solely to blame for erosion of tooth enamel. A beverage's "buffering capacity," or the ability to neutralize acid, is also major factor in dental erosion. In efforts to thwart any oral problems, dentists suggest following these simple tips for keeping your teeth healthy: