Why Your Mouth is Melting Your Teeth

Why Your Mouth is Melting Your Teeth

Acids are chemically hungry, and they have three signature moves. First, they eat metal. Drop acid on a piece of zinc, and it tears the metal apart to form a salt, burping out highly flammable hydrogen gas.

But your teeth aren't made of metal. They're closer to an acid's second victim: metal carbonates. When acid hits a carbonate, it completely dismantles it, leaving behind salt, water, and fizzing carbon dioxide.

So how do you stop an acid on a rampage? You throw a base at it. In a process called neutralization, the acid and base destroy each other's extremes, leaving behind nothing but harmless salt and pure water.