Dentist Questions Dentist

Does coffee cause enamel erosion?

I am a 38 year old female. I want to know if coffee causes enamel erosion?

11 Answers

Coffee is acidic and can cause enamel erosion. Brush or at least rinse your mouth after a cup of coffee. Any acid food or drink can change the PH of your saliva and leach out minerals out of your enamel.
Coffee is not known to cause enamel erosion; rather, it causes extrinsic staining. If you are drinking with sugar, sugar is known to cause cavities and makes your tooth structure weaker. If you drink coffee with sugar, make sure you rinse out your mouth to bring your oral cavity PH to 7.35.
All acidic foods cause some erosion especially if teeth are brushed within thirty minutes of eating/drinking.
No
No.
Coffee does not cause enamel erosion on its own. Although it may contribute to it if you have a diet that is very acidic. The bigger concern with coffee is that it can stain your teeth, especially if you do not get them professionally cleaned twice a year. Daily brushing and flossing supplemented with biannual visits to your dentist should keep your teeth erosion, and stain free.
No---but excess sugar in the coffee could...
It can because coffee is acidic.
Coffee stains, and is unhealthy for you. Still does not cause erosion.

Alan B. Steiner, DMD

Coffee can cause teeth erosion, it’s an acidic beverage. Acidic drinks can damage and thin out the enamel over time, which is acid erosion of teeth. Coffee can also cause dry mouth which in term will increase risk of enamel weakening and tooth decay. Sugar and cream that are added to coffee will attract more bacteria to produce acid which can cause acid erosion of
enamel. Drink or rinse your mouth with water after drinking coffee can be beneficial.
Hello,

No, coffee does not usually cause enamel erosion. Coffee will stain many peoples teeth making them look dark between the teeth (this is the area that people have a hard time reaching while brushing and flossing). This staining will come off by a good cleaning at a dentist and will slowly build up again over time. Erosion is caused by foods and beverages that are acidic or foods and beverages that cause an acidic environment in your mouth. For example, tomatoes, wine, and citrus fruits are acidic, while soda is known to be bad not only for its acid level, but also because of the sugar content. Sugar contains glucose which feeds the bacteria in your mouth, and some of those bacteria product lactic acid while they grow which then erodes your enamel. Coffee itself does not do either one of these (until you put sugar in the coffee).
Hope this helps.

My best to you!

William F. Scott IV, DMD