![]() Thankfully, tooth decay is as unfortunate as it is preventable. Taxing impoverished soda drinkers won't improve their dental health. Add to those factors poverty and lack of adequate dental insurance and it's easy to see why tooth decay is rampant in Appalachia. And they often fear their well water is polluted. They often don't have access to fluoridated tap water. What's more, consider why people in places like West Virginia may choose soda or juice instead of water. Mountain Dew and its parent company, PepsiCo, know that to be true, as a recent Huffington Post headline, PepsiCo Struggling To Adapt To Declining U.S. Notably, soda consumption has been on the decline in the United States for more than a decade. A 2001 study published by the Journal of Dental Research found an "absence of apparent effects of sugared soda consumption in younger people" What's more, the link between soda consumption and cavities in children is tenuous at best. ![]() So it's not that soda's impact is any different than that of juice or milk. Maria Lopez-Howell, a dentist and consumer adviser for the American Dental Association, in comments on the HuffPost Live panel about the harm that repeated, continuous consumption of any acidic beverage can cause. "This is any soda, any juice, any milk," said Dr. But, say experts, soda is no worse in that capacity than a host of other beverages. That's important because it's acid that's bad for teeth. Harris cites in her 2009 article, Mountain Dew is actually less acidic than Diet Coke. Instead, America's top ten soda-consuming cities are found in Texas, California, Western Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio.Īnd, according to data Prof. None of the cities cited in the article as top per-capita soda consumers were located in Appalachia. The Mountain Dew Mouth debate is predicated on claims that people in Appalachia drink more soda than do Americans elsewhere and that Mountain Dew, a favorite there, is a particularly nefarious drink.Ī June 2013 Men's Health article, Capitals of Cola, lists Charleston, WV, in the heart of Appalachia, as one its "fizz-free towns"-places where soda is unpopular. In fact, the author of the recent NPR article, Eliza Barclay, refers to her own reporting on a study, published earlier this year in General Dentistry, in which she claims that soda drinkers' "teeth could deteriorate so much that they look like the teeth of a methamphetamine or crack addict."Ĭracked, the humor publication, reviewed the same study and quickly concluded its claims were "B.S." It appears to me to be just another battle in the public health community's fight against soda. That's the crux of what this conversation appears to be about. Harris concluded that if Pepsi won't "do more," then new regulations (including soda taxes) should follow.Ī recent NPR article that revived the issue and precipitated this week's HuffPost Live segment contextualizes the conversation about "Mountain Dew Mouth" as part of a larger "fight against soda" in America. The article, Undoing the Damage of the Dew, is an expansive look at the topic. Priscilla Norwood Harris of Appalachian Law School, wrote a law review article that year on the alleged phenomenon. One of my fellow guests on HuffPost Live, Prof. But is Mountain Dew or soda writ large to blame?Ĭlaims of Mountain Dew Mouth gained national attention in 2009. It's true that Appalachia boasts some very high rates of tooth decay. The term blames soda in general-and Mountain Dew in particular-for the Appalachian "region's alarmingly high incidence of eroded brown teeth." Earlier this week I appeared in a HuffPost Live debate on the topic of "Mountain Dew Mouth."
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