Studies have been telling us lots of scary things lately: Skipping breakfast is putting you heart at risk, they say. Soda might be giving you cancer, they warn. And now? Kombucha is essentially rotting your teeth at a similar rate of sugary sodas, dentists are warning (though not verbatim).
One dentist in particular, Dr. Larry Molenda, shared his concerns about "everyone's favorite fizzy mold tea," in a recent article, Vice reported. According to said article, "Kombucha and Your Tooth Enamel," the high acidity of your go-to kombucha is not your enamel's BFF.
Dr. Molenda further explains that, because kombucha must have a pH level of below 3.5 in order to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria in the fermented tea drink, it is very harsh on your teeth's protective barrier. For comparison, he points out that the average pH of water is 7 (neutral), while tea is a 6 (slightly more acidic), and vinegar is 2 (very acidic).
Vice notes that other dentists have been saying the same thing as Dr. Molenda for years. Articles like "How Does Drinking Kombucha Affect Your Teeth?" and "Is Kombucha Bad for Your Teeth?" continue to pop up and if you're wondering what they all have in common...well, they're written by concerned dentists.
But, there's hope—Dr. Molenda says so!—and it doesn't require cutting kombucha out of your life entirely since there are health benefits to drinking it. Here are some of his helpful tips in case switching it for water isn't an option:
- Neutralize the acid levels in your mouth. "Drink it with some foods lower in acidity or give your mouth a swish with some water after you finish drinking it."
- Find kombucha with lower sugar content. "Kombucha isn’t meant to be savored and sipped. It’s purpose is for health benefits, not for flavor."
- Drink it quickly. "Drinking it quickly will reduce the amount of time it takes for you to be able to restore the pH levels in your mouth to a more neutral state."
