Colgate.com reports that soft drinks have emerged as one of the most significant dietary sources of tooth decay, affecting people of all ages. Acids and acidic sugar byproducts in soft drinks soften tooth enamel, contributing to the formation of cavities. In extreme cases, softer enamel combined with improper brushing, grinding of the teeth or other conditions can lead to tooth loss.

What to Do
Children, adolescents and adults can all benefit from reducing the number of soft drinks they consume, as well as from available oral care therapies. Here are some steps you can take:

• Substitute different drinks: Stock the refrigerator with beverages containing less sugar and acid such as water, milk and 100 percent fruit juice. Drink them yourself and encourage your kids to do the same.
• Rinse with water: After consuming a soft drink, flush your mouth with water to remove vestiges of the drink that can prolong exposure of tooth enamel to acids.
• Use fluoride toothpaste and mouth rinse: Fluoride reduces cavities and strengthens tooth enamel, so brush with a fluoride-containing toothpaste such as Colgate® Total®. Rinsing with a fluoride mouthwash also can help. Your dentist can recommend an over-the-counter mouthwash or prescribe a stronger one depending on the severity of the condition. He or she also can prescribe a higher fluoride toothpaste.
• Get professionally applied fluoride treatment: Your dental hygienist can apply fluoride in the form of a foam, gel or rinse.

Soft drinks are hard on your teeth. By reducing the amount you drink, practicing good oral hygiene, and seeking help from your dentist and hygienist, you can counteract their effect and enjoy better oral health.

Proper nutrition and dental health are indeed intimately linked. Malnutrition has long been linked to common dental health problems, including:

Tooth decay
Gingivitis
Advanced Periodontal Disease
Halitosis
Thus, before focusing on fancy dental health products that are supposedly the new space-aged cure-all for dental health and oral hygiene concerns, it is important to get the basics right. This may be considered to be alternative dental health care by some dentists and medical professionals who tend to focus most education efforts on good oral hygiene practices. However, nutrition is the foundation of dental health and oral hygiene is the complement.

To this end, it is important to focus on fluoride intake. Almost all dental health information released in the past 3 generations points to the importance of fluoride in the prevention of the most common dental problems-cavities.

If you ingest a single milligram of fluoride every day since the day you were born, the odds of having tooth decay decreases by an estimated 50-60%. This is because fluoride is particularly important when teeth are developing because it will literally increase the strength of the tooth and its surrounding enamel as the teeth are mineralizing.