QUESTIONS
1. How do we get tooth decays?
2. Does the type of food we eat really play a role in tooth decays?
3. If so, what type of food causes more tooth decays?
4. Does brushing really help?
MATERIALS
10 Clear plastic cups Measuring cup
10 Hard-boiled eggs 500ml of Apple cider
10 pH strips vinegar
1 Toothpaste 500ml of Lemon juice
1 Toothbrush 500ml of Coke
10 Labels 500ml of Coffee ( 250
1 Marker ml each with and
Gloves without sugar)
PROCEDURE
1. Take 10 plastic cups and label them by the drinks have chosen
2. Pour each type of drink in its own labeled plastic cup.
3. Dip a pH strip in a drink. The color of the pH strip will change. Identify the pH value by
comparing the color of the strip with the colors in the reference sheet.
4. Place a hard-boiled egg in the drink and keep it in a safe place.
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 for each drink.
6. Choose 3 drinks with low pH (ACV, Lemon Juice, Coke) and pour these in separate cups. Now,
take 3 hard boiled eggs and apply toothpaste on them and place those in those 3 cups.
7. Check the eggs every 24 hours and observe & note down the changes you see.
PROBLEMS FACED
Some of the pH levels we tested had color in between the levels showed in the pH color reference
sheet. The pH strips used could not measure up to decimal points.
Not able to apply toothpaste uniformly over the eggshells.
The tooth paste we used was blue in color which caused color change in egg.
Errors like spilling liquid when trying to get the egg out for observations.
The egg that was dunk in lemon juice got its shell soft on the second day and pressing it hard broke
it.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this experiment is to find if which type of drink decays the tooth fastest.
CONTROLLED VARIABLES INDEPENDENT
Type and size of eggs. VARIABLE
Type of container used.
Room temperature.
Amount of liquid used. DEPENDENT VARIABLE
Amount of time the egg is dipped. The amount of damage to the
eggshell.
HYPOTHESIS
Hypothesis 1: I think the drinks (Apple cider vinegar) that has more acidity will cause
the most damage to the eggshell.
Hypothesis 2: I think the eggs that are coated with toothpaste will have less damage
than the ones that are without toothpaste, though they are in same drink.
ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
From the above observations and data collected, I found that
1. The more the acid content was (lesser pH), the more the damage to the shell. Both apple
cider vinegar and Lemon juice had completely dissolved the eggshells.
2. The darker drinks like coffee, and Coke all really stained the eggshells, but this staining
did not correlate with dissolving eggshell.
3. The eggs that were coated with toothpaste had both slower damage and lesser stain.
4. The coffee which had sugar in it, did not show any damage to the eggshell. This result
combined with the results from the more acidic drinks made us think that acid has a big
part in tooth decay.
CONCLUSION
Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 were found to be true.
The drinks (Apple cider vinegar) that had more acidity caused the most damage
to the eggshell.
The eggs that were coated with toothpaste had less damage than the ones that
are without toothpaste, though they were in the same drink.
Color change Texture change Final color Final texture
change due to change due to
drink (1 to 5) drink (1 to 5 )
24 hrs. 48 hrs. 24 hrs. 48 hrs.
Apple cider Stayed Stayed same Almost gone Completely 1 5
vinegar same gone
Coca cola Turned Turned No change No change 5 1
brown browner
Lemon juice Stayed Stayed same No change Rougher, 1 4
same Disintegrating
Orange juice Stayed Turned light No change No change 2 1
same orange
Milk Stayed Stayed same No change No change 1 1
same
Coffee with Turned Turned No change No change 5 1
sugar brown browner
Coffee Turned Turned No change No change 5 1
without brown browner
sugar
Coca cola Stayed Turned light No change No change 2 1
with same brown
toothpaste
Apple cider Turned Turned bluer Little rough, Almost gone 1 4
vinegar with little blue Disintegrating
toothpaste
Lemon juice Turned Turned No change Little rough, 1 2
with light greener Disintegrating
toothpaste green
Final color Final texture
change due to change due to
drink (1 to 5) drink (1 to 5 )
Apple cider 1 5
vinegar
Coca cola 5 1
Lemon juice 1 4
Orange juice 2 1
Milk 1 1
Coffee with 5 1
sugar
Coffee 5 1
without
sugar
Coca cola 2 1
with
toothpaste
Apple cider 1 4
vinegar with
toothpaste
Lemon juice 1 2
with
toothpaste
Texture & Color change comparison
6
Final color change due to drink Final texture change due to drink (1 to 5 )