Abstract

N. Quartey-Papafio, M. Odoom, J. Sackeyfio and D.Tormeti

Dental erosion is one of the various factors which affect oral health. Acids present in food and beverages are part of the major aetiological factors responsible for the erosive lesions of dental enamel. Frequent and excessive drinking of acidic soft drinks or beverages can subsequently be deleterious to teeth. The purpose of the study was to determine the acidity (pH) of some commercially available soft drinks on the Ghanaian market at room and refrigerated temperatures. The study was a cross sectional study. Thirty soft drinks were randomly selected after a market survey and categorized according to the type of drink (19 fizzy drinks, 7 fruit drinks, 2 energy drinks and 2 malts drinks). The pH values of samples of the soft drinks were measured (n=3) before refrigeration and after refrigeration at 25 °C and 4 °C respectively using a Horiba NAVI F52 pH meter at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. The data was analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) from Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The pH values of the soft drinks obtained from the study were all lower than the critical pH value (5.5) for enamel demineralization. The pH values recorded at room temperature ranged from 2.488 to 4.674. At refrigerated temperature of 4°C, the pH values ranged from 2.604 to 4.941. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the pH values of the soft drinks when the values before refrigeration and after refrigeration were compared. The pH of the soft drinks studied all indicated erosive potential to dentition because of their acidic nature.