Sports and energy drinks can be wonderful potions that hydrate top-tier athletes and weekend warriors alike, if you choose to use them, chug them and not sip or savor them all day.


This, according to J. Anthony von Fraunhofer, director of biomaterials research at the University of Maryland Dental School in Baltimore suggests. Otherwise, the drinks could be eating away the enamel of your teeth, setting them up for tooth decay and other dental problems.


Energy drinks and citrus-flavored beverages, like most sports drinks, are more abrasive on tooth enamel than tea or even cola drinks, reported von Fraunhofer in a recent issue of the journal General Dentistry.


In the study, he exposed enamel from teeth that had been extracted due to cavities or other problems to a variety of beverages, including energy drinks, fitness water and sports drinks, lemonade and ice tea. He simulated 13 years of exposure during normal beverage consumption, while weighing the teeth before and after exposure to calculate enamel dissolution.


While all the drinks produced some enamel damage, von Fraunhofer found the most wear occurred, in descending order, from -- lemonade, energy drinks, sports drinks, fitness water (often with citrus flavors), ice tea and cola.


Von Fraunhofer said most cola drinks contain acids, but energy and sport drinks also contain other organic acids that can speed up damage to the enamel.


"Anything that contained citrus flavoring did a number on the teeth," he said.


The American Academy of General Dentistry, which publishes the journal, does not have an official stand on specific beverages and their potential for damaging enamel, said spokeswoman Susan Urbanczyk.