Will sugarless candy give me cavities?

As some of you may already know, I’ve been cursed with cavity prone teeth but a taste for sugar. I thought Baskin Robbins sugarless hard candies were the answer to my prayers. Then my friend made a comment about me not being diabetic, I explained my situation, and he said that they’d still give me cavities. If I remember my kindergarden picture books, and I think I do, cavities are formed by sugar sticking to plaque… or something like that. Well? Is the sugar replacement giving me a false sense of security?

You won’t get cavaties from sugarless candy.

Well, sugar isn’t particularly bad at causing cavities anyway, unless you let it fester in your mouth. Anything that’ll rot that gets a chance to stay next to your teeth will give you a cavity.

Your only hope is to eat only metals, or to keep your mouth clean.

Sugar causes cavities because it ‘feeds’ the bacteria on your teeth, and they release chemicals that digest your teeth. Aspartamine, sorbitol etc can not be digested (by you or the bacteria) and so are safe in this regard. There is even an argument that chewing sugarfree gum is good for your teeth. However, these sweetners usually have a laxative affect, so you should avoid eating too many of them.
On the other hand, Spoofe has a point in that brushing technique, use of mouthwash etc probably have a bigger affect on cavities than the amount of sugar you eat.

Metal, was it? Got it.