Diet Soda As Bad For Your Teeth As A Meth Addiction

Remember that 25-year-old who lost her teeth due to a nasty diet soda problem? Now it's official: drinking diet soda on the regular can wreck your teeth just as badly as a meth or cocaine addiction. Isn't that lovely. 

A new study published in General Dentistry examined some pretty jaw-dropping case studies of men and women who consumed as much as 2 liters of diet soda per day for three to five years. From Health Newsday (because we can't make this stuff up): "In [Dr. Mohamed Bassiouny's] study, he found that a woman in her 30s who drank 2 liters of diet soda daily for three to five years experienced tooth rot and decay remarkably similar to that suffered by a 29-year-old methamphetamine addict and a 51-year-old habitual crack cocaine user." And in case you were wondering, she had to have all of her teeth removed and replaced with dentures.  

Bassiouny concluded in the study that it was the acid found in diet soda that wreaked the most havoc on teeth. Of course, the American Beverage Association released a statement in response to the study, saying the the evidence doesn't stack up. "The woman referenced in this article did not receive dental health services for more than 20 years — two-thirds of her life... To single out diet soda consumption as the unique factor in her tooth decay and erosion — and to compare it to that from illicit drug use — is irresponsible."