
Soft Drinks and Tooth Enamel Erosion
Medium
Can soft drinks wear away tooth enamel over just a few days? You place three teeth of equal size and weight into separate bottles of Coca-Cola, Sprite, and root beer. Each day for five days, you remove the teeth, dry them, and weigh them on a digital scale.
All three teeth lose weight over the five days. The tooth in Coca-Cola loses the most, while the one in root beer loses the least. The daily weight readings let you chart the rate of erosion for each drink.
This project shows how different sodas compare in their ability to break down enamel over time.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that immersing teeth in soft drinks will cause tooth erosion and the teeth will lose some of their weight.
Method & Materials
You will fill three bottles with different soft drinks, wash and clean three teeth, and place a tooth in each bottle. After the first day, remove the teeth from each bottle and check their weights. Repeat this process every day for the next four days.
You will need three transparent bottles, one bottle of Coca Cola, one bottle of Sprite, one bottle of root beer, one digital weighing scale, and three teeth of identical size and weight.
Results
The results showed that all the teeth immersed in the soft drinks lost some weight daily. The tooth that was immersed in Coca Cola lost the most weight and the tooth that was immersed in root beer exhibited the least erosion.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it shows the effects of soft drinks on tooth enamel. It also shows how different types of soft drinks can have different effects on teeth.
Also Consider
Experiment variations include testing the effects of soft drinks on other calcium-rich materials, such as pieces of chalk, and testing the effects of fruit juice on tooth enamel.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related videos
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
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