"A 2-pound bag of soft candy consumed in 1 minute does less damage to teeth than a single hard candy left in the mouth for 2 minutes."I recently read this 'Factoid' quote published in a dental journal I receive. One might read this and question if this could really be true. "Is it really possible that ONE piece of candy can do more harm than an entire big bag?!" Well...the answer, surprisingly, is YES. The point that this fact is trying to get across is not "certain types of candy are worse for you than others" (although this is certainly true), but rather, cavity development is directly correlated with the amount of time that sugar touches your teeth. The longer sugar sits on your teeth, the more time bacteria has to break it down and produce harmful acids which damage your teeth.
This is crucial dental health knowledge. It is not only true for candy, but for all sugary foods and drinks. The same statement could be said about Coke. "A 2-liter bottle of Coke consumed in 1 minute does less damage to teeth than a 20oz bottle consumed in 2 minutes." Again, more contact time = more damage.
Some advice:
If you're going to eat or drink something sugary, then just do it and be done with it. Don't nibble on a candy bar or sip on a soft drink for a long period of time.
Try to consume sugary things at meal times, not snack times.
If you consume something sugary, at the very least, swish with some water to help get some of the sugar off your teeth. I stress this all the time with our patients.
Minimize sugar or try switching to sugar-free options (read our article on xylitol to see how sugar-free candy can actually be good for your teeth). Remember, without sugar the bacteria is unable to cause cavities.
Happy Halloween everyone!
