Do Diet Coke/Diet Pepsi/Diet Colas really rot children's teeth?

Diet sodas have artificial sweeteners, right? Those things are terrible for you. I avoid them at all cost, and wouldn’t give them to my children.
We drink natural soda, and when my children are old enough for soda, they can drink it as well. I think it’s a moderation thing. Too much can hurt the teeth.

Soda is bad for children for a variety of reasons. Artificial sweeteners aren’t good for children (or anyone really), caffeine can stunt a child’s growth, regular sugar can cause obesity and rot teeth, and the acid in the soda can also contribute to rotting teeth.

The only sodas I let my son (he’s 8) have are sprite and sierra mist and those are only on special occasions.

Your mother’s right about phosphoric acid. Also carbonic acid. Here’s some info from this dental site

“Did you ever notice your teeth feeling slightly rough when you rub them together after having a coke? The enamel has been slightly etched – making it rough – by the phosphoric acid that is one of the ingredients. Carbonation itself adds acidity as well as fizz, because the carbon dioxide creates carbonic acid in solution.
...
”...it takes surprisingly little acidity – anything with a pH below 5 can do it. Teenagers are the most frequent victims of acid damage because they drink a lot of pop and juices, and tend to sip and swish it in their mouths. And here’s a statistic for you: North American women drink more Diet Coke than water!”

In addition, this website says:

“In a survey designed to measure the amount of phosphoric acid in twenty different soft drinks, the following were found to contain the highest amounts: Tab, Coke, Diet Coke, caffeine-free Coke, and Mr. Pibb.”

It’s not the sugar it’s the phosphoric acid that rots the teeth.

Oh yes they do! In college a frat bro got a tooth knocked out and for grins he tossed it in a glass of Coke and in the morning it was all gone save for a few specks.

“While there is no conclusive evidence that diet pop leaches the calcium out of bones, there does appear to be a link between pop consumption and osteoporosis.
This means that people who drink carbonated soft drinks need to ensure that they are getting adequate calcium from other sources.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/will-my-diet-coke-leach-the-calcium-out-of-my-bones/article711056/

When I was teaching a group of 3rd graders and someone lost a tooth, we put it in a cup of Coke and after several days it was black and disintegrating! It would be interesting to try the same thing with diet soda. If you know any children of tooth-losing age, perhaps they will donate a tooth to science and you can find out.

Diet or non-diet soda replace more nutritious foods for kids (and adults). Why not orange juice or unsweetened grape juice, or V-8?

MT DEW is the worst. In the appalachians, they drink a ton of it and their teeth are awful. It is well documented.

1. There are other reasons besides tooth decay that diet sodas are bad for you. I would never give my kids diet soda. Never ever.

2. Soda is very acidic. If you were to soak your teeth in soda, it would eat away the enamel. But drinking soda is hardly equivalent to soaking your teeth in it. In moderation I think it is fine.

3. Apparently the presence of sugar in the mouth provides a nice food source for bacteria that cause plaque to form and tooth decay to occur. Obviously if you never brush your teeth to remove the sugar and plaque, you will have problems. Nowadays with toothbrushes, floss, fluoridated toothpaste, and modern health care, I don’t think this is that big a deal.

4. Some people have thinner enamel than others. Some people are more prone to getting cavities than others. If this is true of your kids, then extra care in limiting their exposure to sugar may be wise.

5. It isn’t really very healthy to be ingesting loads of sugar regularly anyway. I believe that the effects of high levels of sugar in your body are cumulative, kind of like UV exposure. As sun exposure can lead to skin cancer, a high-sugar diet I think can lead to serious health problems like diabetes. I’m not saying that kids should never drink soda. Just something to think about.

If they drink a soda with a meal it won’t hurt them. But if they or anyone has a soda HABIT they can kiss their teeth goodbye. I know someone who drinks five cans per day and his teeth turned black and rotted out. And aspartame? It’s a poison, is it not? You can hear all about aspartame on youtube.com .
I have had a soda or two per month for decades and have all my teeth. Moderation is key. That’s what parents are for!

I watched something on the Discovery Channel about different drinks and their ‘decaying properties’ one time; soda, in general, is very bad for anyone’s teeth. Coffee stains teeth and dehydrates due to the caffeine, but doesn’t decay them. Juices also decay teeth. Water is truly the best for anyone not only because it’s good for your teeth but also because 9 out of 10 people in a recent group study were dehydrated. When you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated. (62 oz. of H2O is required daily for proper hydration; 8 oz additional per caffinated beverage consumed.) Crazy stuff! Hope it helps you like it did me! :O)