Dental Erosion; Immediate pH Changes of Commercial Soft drinks

Methods: Two cola soft drinks, six non-cola soft drinks and two fruit juices were selected based on their popularity. About 250 milliliters of each of the drinks were poured inside a beaker containing the probe of a digital pH meter and the initial pH recorded. The pH readings were then taken at 15 seconds interval for 3minutes

Results: The pH ranges from 2.74-2.76 for cola drinks, 2.68-4.48 for non cola drinks and 3.55-3.91 for fruit juices. La casera apple drink; t0 (pH on opening)=2.68, t3 (pH at 3 minutes)=2.72. Seven up; t0=3.15, t3=3.15. Cocacola; t0=2.76, t3=2.74. Schweppes bitter lemon; t0=2.94, t3=2.83. Krest club soda; t0=4.48, t3=4.54. Pepsicola; t0=2.74, t3=2.70. Mirinda orange; t0=3.04, t3=2.95. Fanta orange; t0=3.12, t3=3.01. Fuman(vogue 2); t0=3.55, t3=3.51. 5Alive; t0=3.91, t3=3.91. A tendency to pH increase observed in La casera and Krest club soda; no pH changes observed in Seven up and 5Alive; a tendency to decrease in pH observed in Cocacola, Schweppes, Pepsicola, Mirinda, Fanta orange and Fuman(vogue 2). This study showed that all the soft drinks assessed had pH on opening lower than critical pH for enamel to dissolve and therefore could be said to be erosive in nature. A significant number of them showed a tendency to decrease in pH after opening.

Conclusion:This study revealed that many soft drinks in Nigerian market had low pH below the critical dissolving pH of enamel and many of them showed a tendency to decrease in pH on opening.