Sugary drinks and oral health
Women beware
While the Fischer Kitchen usually brings you thoughts from my table, today’s article is a special contribution from our summer intern, Harper Goodman. She’s passionate about health and has her sights set on becoming a dentist. She’s going into her last year of college at the University of Miami, and we’re glad to share her thoughts on research about the link between oral health and cancer.
If you're anything like me, you probably grew up hearing all the reasons why soda is bad for your teeth. My parents were extremely interested in health. On top of that, my dad also happens to be a dentist, so I was regularly immersed in health discussions.
I spent many a day working with him in his office during high school. I watched him remind patients to cut back on sugary drinks. He'd always tell me the same thing: "Soda ruins your teeth—don't drink it." I thought he was just being dramatic. But he wasn’t; those drinks really cause a lot of damage. And now, recent medical research more than validates his view.
A study published in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery found that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages daily was associated with an increased risk of developing oral cavity cancer.
The results were strongest in women. The study was mammoth, with more than 160,000 people participating in the long-running Nurses' Health Study and Nurses' Health Study II. These studies followed participants’ beverage habits, lifestyle choices, and health outcomes over nearly 30 years.
The research was important. Oral cavity cancer has been rising in younger adults who don't smoke, especially women.
In the study, sugar-sweetened beverages included regular soda (both caffeinated and caffeine-free), sweetened teas, lemonades, and other non-diet drinks with added sugars. They are the kind of beverages many people reach for daily, often without a second thought.
The investigators knew that those who smoked and drank alcohol experienced higher cancer rates. That was confirmed in the study. But they had a problem: those who didn’t drink heavily or smoke also had rising cancer rates. In fact, the control group had more cancer than those with the bad habits.
They were missing a variable. They found it in sugar. Women who had good habits otherwise but drank sugary drinks had much higher chances of developing cancer.
This connection doesn't surprise me when I reflect on my time working at the dental office. I watched patients come in with severe cavities, gum disease, or visible enamel erosion, many of them young. One of the common factors? Diet. Many admitted to drinking soda or sweetened iced tea daily and having a high-sugar diet. My dad would explain that these drinks coat your teeth in sugar, feeding bacteria and making it easier for decay to spread. But we weren't thinking about cancer, just cavities.
Now, with this research, it's not just about tooth decay anymore. It's a potential cancer risk. That doesn't mean a soda here and there will cause cancer. Overall, the risk of developing oral cavity cancer is still low, even for those who drink sugar-sweetened beverages regularly. But the link is real, and when you add it to the already long list of health risks associated with excess sugar (like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease), it's worth thinking twice before making that daily soda a staple in your diet.
There are many alternatives now. Sparkling water with lime, unsweetened iced tea, or fruit-infused water can satisfy cravings without the sugar overload. Once you get used to it, you won’t miss soda that much.
So, my dad was right all along. It's not just about saving your smile; it could be about protecting your health in a much bigger way—and for the long term. And if that means skipping the sugary soda at lunch, I'm okay with that.