Apr 20th, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Title
The Erosive Effects and Titratability of Popular Energy Drinks
Information
The purpose of this study was to evaluate, through titration, the acidity and erosive potential of four popular energy drink brands. The four energy drinks used for this experiment were Red Bull, Monster, Full Throttle, and Rockstar. The initial pH measurement was taken for each drink by using a pH electrode. Each drink was titrated while constantly monitoring the pH of the beverage until it reached the final assessment of 12.0 pH. Human third molars that were non-flawed, erosion free, and free of caries or restorations were then submersed in the energy drinks for a period of 350 hours or 14 days to stimulate the wear of 14 years of energy drink consumption. The energy drink was replaced every 24-hours with freshly opened beverage and the weight recorded of each tooth specimen. This weight was compared to the initial weight of each specimen to determine the total erosion that occurred over the test period. The primary research question in this study was which of the popular energy drinks could lead to the most amount of dental erosion. This study attempted to quantify the amount of harmful erosion that each energy drink caused.
Comments
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Elaine Long