The Crazy Way Seltzer Water Could Actually Rot Your Teeth

Photograph by Think Stock

Seltzer water, or sparkling water, may seem like a natural alternative to regular water or a healthy swap for diet and regular soda, but a new collection of findings shows that your drinking habit is going to wreak havoc on your teeth. 

It all started when Atlantic writer, and bubbly water fan, Olga Khazan asked:

The fascinating question sparked immediate interest, and Khazan, who once drank a dozen cans of La Croix sparkling water in one day, discovered the awful truth about the popular beverage. First, for the good news. "Unless they're flavored with citric or other acids, seltzers tend to have more neutral pH values than soft drinks like Coke," Khazan writes. "While bottled flat water has a pH of about 7—or totally neutral—that of Perrier is about 5.5."  But when you add in the flavors, the essentially harmless drink starts to get worrisome. One 2007 study published in the International Journal of Pediatric Dentistry observed what happened to teeth after 30 minutes of exposure to flavored sparkling water and discovered that the drink was just as damaging to the teeth as the acidic orange juice. The carbonic acid, which helps carbonate the water, starts to wear away tooth enamel over time, and although it's weak, the news alone may cause some hardened seltzer water drinkers to abandon their habit. The article Your Seltzer Water Habit May Actually Rot Your Teeth originally ran on RodaleWellness.com.