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Starbucks straw ban bad for oral health?

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  Posted by: Dental Design      16th July 2018

Starbucks has recently announced that it plans to replace plastic straws with a ‘sippy’ lid that you would most often find on a hot drink. By 2020, every single of their 28,000 stores worldwide will have phased out the use of plastic straws in favour of the more environmentally friendly alternative. The lid will be used for every iced drink except Frappuccinos.

With Starbucks estimating the move will eliminate more than 1 billion straws a year, Mcdonalds joins the fight against plastic straws as they have announced a plan to also phase them out across UK and Ireland.

However, environmentally beneficial it may be, but dental experts have said that the newly-designed lids could worsen the state of your teeth.

Dentist Nisarg A. Patel told slate.com: If you had to choose between drinking from a straw and drinking from a sippy cup, it’s more likely that the tooth will be exposed to more acid and sugar [through the latter] than it would through a straw,” he said. “There’s a higher risk for damage.” And that damage isn’t just aesthetic. Acidic foods and drinks with high sugar contents (i.e., almost everything on the Starbucks menu) not only create a favourable environment for tooth-decaying bacteria but can also degrade tooth enamel, which can lead to increased sensitivity and decay.

Read the full report here: https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/07/starbucks-straws-vs-sippy-cups-which-is-better-for-your-teeth.html?via=gdpr-consent


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