Apple cider vinegar has become a popular home remedy in recent years and has been used for centuries in cooking and medicine. It’s thought to help with a wide range of health issues, including high cholesterol, blood sugar levels, obesity and high blood pressure. It’s also said to help with eczema and stomach acid reflux, but this has not been scientifically proven. Because apple cider vinegar is a good source of nutrients like potassium, magnesium, calcium, and vitamin C, it’s believed to be good for your body as a whole. Apple cider vinegar is usually consumed with foods as an additive to sauces, salad dressings and marinades.
Some people also drink apple cider vinegar, diluted in hot or cold water. But because of the lack of research about apple cider vinegar, there are no official dosage suggestions to date.
Research has shown that apple cider vinegar has both antimicrobial and antioxidant effects – including anti-oral biofilm effects.
Oral biofilms, also known as dental plaque, consists of a sticky layer of bacteria on tooth surfaces. This means that in theory, it may be able to reduce plaque levels on our teeth, but there have been no clinical studies to test this. Apart from a lack of evidence, there is another important reason why apple cider vinegar is probably not the best option to reduce plaque: like other kinds of vinegar, it’s high in acid, and studies indicate that it may cause erosion to our bodily tissues if not diluted. This includes the soft tissues in our mouth as well as our teeth and tooth enamel.
Teeth and acids
Enamel is the mineralised material that coats our teeth and is the hardest tissue in the human body. It covers the crown which is the part of the tooth that is visible in the mouth. However, the main portion of the tooth is dentin, which is located underneath our enamel. Dentin is also a hard tissue, similar to bone, and has a direct connection to the dental pulp in the centre of our teeth, containing nerves and blood vessels. The enamel helps protect our teeth from chewing, biting, hot and cold temperatures, and potentially damaging chemicals. Some chemicals though, like acids, can still damage the enamel over time, if they get in contact with our teeth for longer periods.
Acids are able to dissolve and soften the minerals in our enamel, potentially making it thinner over time. This is especially the case if we brush our teeth or chew hard foods directly after an acid attack, which can accelerate enamel loss.
When enamel erodes due to vinegar acids, our teeth may become more sensitive. This means they react more to hot or cold foods, drinks, and sweets since the dentin layer underneath the enamel is much more sensitive due to a direct connection to the nerves inside our teeth. In some more advanced cases, when the enamel has been completely eroded by acids, the dentin is exposed and unprotected, and at this stage, the teeth will erode, and wear and tear a lot faster.
So if you do regularly drink apple cider vinegar and want to avoid tooth erosion, it’s best to follow a few rules.
- Always water down apple cider vinegar and consider drinking it through a straw to protect your teeth. It also helps to consume apple cider vinegar together with your main meals, to reduce the number of acid attacks per day.
- Avoid apple cider vinegar products that require lots of chewing (like acidic gummies).
- Do not brush your teeth directly before or after drinking apple cider vinegar. Instead, wait for about half an hour.
- When you brush, be gentle (not too abrasive), use fluoridated toothpaste, and do not use a hard toothbrush.
(With Inputs from PTI)
