The diagram demonstrates the levels of mouth acidity after eating different types of sugars relative to the critical level after which tooth decay starts.
Generally, the peak of mouth acidity occurs around 5 minutes from ingesting sugars, after which the mouth PH gradually returns to its normal value of 7. Moreover, cane sugar appears to cause the most drastic changes to the oral acidity, followed by fruit sugar, and finally honey.
After eating sugary foods, the oral PH falls steeply to reach a minimum around 3.5, 4.25, and 5.2 after 5 minutes in cane sugar, fruit sugar, and honey respectively. It then gradually increases till it reaches its normal level at about 40 minutes, 35 minutes, and 25 minutes after eating each of the three sugars, respectively.
Notably, teeth start to decompose when the PH level is 5.5 or less, and the mouth takes about 10 minutes, 25 minutes, and 30 minutes to neutralize its acidity to a safe level after ingesting each of the three sugars, respectively.
