Pool season is just around the corner. What's one the worst things you can do when in the pool? Well, yes, that. But the second-worst thing? Smiling under water!

“Improperly maintained pool chlorination in swimming pools can cause rapid and excessive erosion of dental enamel,” says Leila Jahangiri, a clinical associate professor prosthodontics of New York University (NYU).

“It is a difficult balance to maintain home pools properly,” Jahangiri contends. “Proper pool chlorine and pH levels need to be monitored and maintained on a weekly basis”

Jahangiri says maintenance by a professional pool service may cost thousands of dollars a season, “so many homeowners try and maintain their pools themselves.”

Jahangiri has observed first-hand the effects of improper pH levels. In a paper not yet published, Jahangiri and NYU colleagues detail the case of a 52-year-old male patient whose main complaints included “extremely sensitive teeth,” dark staining, and rapid enamel loss over a very short five-month period beginning in May 2010.