Canadian ultrarunner and dentist Dr. Arden Young recently shared oral health advice tailored for endurance athletes, sparking enthusiastic reactions online. Her Instagram post was partly a response to questions about the addition of bicarbonate in sports drinks made by the company Maurten.
Ultrarunners—athletes who cover distances starting at 50 kilometres and extending to as far as 3,100 miles—need to consume carbohydrates during long races to maintain their energy levels. But as Young explained, this can come at a cost to their oral health.
“In short, the amount and frequency of carbohydrate that an endurance athlete ingests during competition and training can wreak havoc in your mouth, increasing risk of enamel erosion, dental cavities, and inflammatory periodontal disease,” she wrote.
Young, who won the women’s race at the historic 47.7-kilometre Quad Dipsea in California in 2021 and finished 6th overall, returned in 2023, shaving nine minutes off her previous time to place 11th overall in 4:39:15. She elaborated on the risks of the challenging course.
“There are a bunch of factors involved,” she wrote, “but the main one [is] that cavity-causing oral bacteria metabolize sugars and produce acid, which dissolves teeth. In addition to this acid production, most sports drinks are acidic, with [a] pH around 3. Saliva will neutralize that pH, but it takes time, and every time you take a swig of that sports drink, the process starts again. (Hence why it’s cool that Maurten adds bicarb to neutralize the pH.)”
While it’s unclear whether the post was sponsored, Young used the opportunity to share tips on how athletes can protect their teeth. She suggested maintaining good oral hygiene, using a fluoride rinse or high-fluoride toothpaste (around 5,000 ppm), and rinsing with plain water after taking in gels or other carbs to help neutralize oral pH more quickly.
Young also linked to a review titled Sports Diet and Oral Health in Athletes: A Comprehensive Review (PMID: 38399605) for those interested in reading further.
Followers responded enthusiastically to her advice. “This is dope. Thank ya kindly for sharing ,” one commenter wrote. Another added, “Dang, I had no idea, and I love this! Share more! .”
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