[waboremo]

I believe the common theory is not the coffee acidity on its own, but the habits around it.

People often drink coffee slowly and without a straw, this leads to staining but not tooth decay. However the slow part contributes to the teeth not getting a chance to neutralize acidity normally. This gets worse when people then brush their teeth after their morning coffee to prevent bad breath, which the abrasiveness combined with the acid environment does cause havok.

Both of them can be avoided in a variety of ways, to reduce both staining and decay.

[joaonmatos]

You can have your espresso standing up at the café's bar like an authentic southern European and avoid the problem? Sounds great! :D

[ziml77]

Interesting. For a few years I was extremely bad about brushing my teeth. I wonder if not doing that is why my consumption of coffee, carbonated drinks, and sugary snacks/desserts did nothing to the teeth themselves other than maybe a little extra staining. The first dentist visit I had after that stretch of 3 years required nothing but a cleaning! (Of course it's still bad to not brush consistently because the plaque turns to tartar along the gums which causes them to recede)

[waboremo]

Similar situation, he was surprised by how white they were too. I drink almost everything that isn't water through a straw and never swish it around. He said that's probably why the only reason he had to do any work was due to the very back edge of my teeth where even when drinking through a straw the liquid touches.