Wine could mess up your smile

2005-04-12 09:37

Johannes de Villiers

Cape Town - Wine is bad for your teeth.

On Tuesday Usuf Chikte, associate dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch, will be awarded a PhD for a study which found that the teeth of regular wine drinkers could become more sensitive, discolour or even crumble away.

"Wine itself will not rot your teeth, but since acid is present in alcohol, it will wear away the enamel on your teeth, exposing the softer dentine underneath," he said.

A local wine company approached Chikte when it found its medical aid had to pay a considerable amount for workers' dental problems - especially the wine tasters who rinse their mouths with wine up to 120 times per day.

"Many of them had to get fillings or crowns because their teeth were so damaged.

I found that the real problem was the regular exposure of their teeth to the acid in wine."

These results ought to also hold true for non-wine tasters who regularly drink wine.

"We found that when people drink wine, they spend at least 45 minutes to an hour and a half drinking it - enough time for the wine to affect their teeth."

According to Chikte's dissertation, any food or drink with a pH value (an indication of acidity) of lower than 5.5 can damage people's teeth.

The pH in wine is usually two or three.

The worst thing you can do following a wine-drinking session, according to the dissertation, is to brush your teeth immediately.

"The acid in the wine softens the enamel on your teeth, and if you use a toothbrush, it will result in scratching off the enamel."

Wine drinkers can counter the negative effects of wine by, among others, drinking a lot of water, not keeping the wine in their mouths for too long, and eating something like cheese which provides minerals for the teeth.

Chikte's recommendation for people who drink or taste wine as part of their jobs is to visit the dentist every three months for fluoride treatment.

"Another of our proposals was that people should drink wine through a straw, but I don't think that will be very popular."

- Die Burger