The relatively new phenomenon of the smoothie has seemed like the perfect 'cheaters' way to fulfill part of the standard 'five-a-day' fruit and vegetable quota. While we slug back our smoothie with all good intent, dentists warn that we could be corroding our teeth and doing serious damage to our oral health.

Enamel erosion
Smoothies, and all fruit for that matter, contain high levels of sugar and acidity which can erode teeth and brushing after drinking fruit juice only serves to further corrode the tooth enamal, according to Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation. He said: "Fruit smoothies are becoming increasingly popular and the fruit content can make them seem like a good idea. However, they contain very high levels of sugar and acid and so can do a lot of damage to the teeth."

Nutritionists vs. Dentists
This reaction comes after nutritionist Dr Carrie Ruxton published a review in the Nutrition Bulletin stating that a 100g pure-fruit smoothie had a higher nutritional value than 100g of normal orange juice. To this end she believe it should be reclassified as more than 1 portion of fruit per day, however the dentists have hit back claiming that this could cause an 'erosion epidemic' on a grand scale if people are encouraged to sip smoothies all day long.