# Will sugarless candy give me cavities?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sugarless-candy-give-me-cavities/105458>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 24, 2002, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sugarless-candy-give-me-cavities/105458 "2002-04-24T23:49:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sugarless-candy-give-me-cavities/105458/1 "2002-04-24T23:49:00Z")

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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?

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**Author:** ![Cull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@Cull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cull)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sugarless-candy-give-me-cavities/105458/2 "2002-04-25T02:14:47Z")

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You won’t get cavaties from sugarless candy.

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**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sugarless-candy-give-me-cavities/105458/3 "2002-04-25T07:28:57Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Nukeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Nukeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nukeman)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sugarless-candy-give-me-cavities/105458/4 "2002-04-25T07:46:05Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sugarless-candy-give-me-cavities/105458/5 "2002-04-25T13:21:01Z")

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Metal, was it? Got it.