Bellevue Dentist Diet Candy Information
Diet candy may be a problem, according to a recent study by Dr Sok-Ja Janket a professor at Boston University in the School of Dental Medicine. The information was summarized in the Readers Digest (February 2012). It indicates that sugar-free candies may be hard on your teeth. The investigation indicates that both sour and fruit flavorings in candy may interact with the sugar-free sweeteners to cause additional acid inside the oral cavity which can both weaken your teeth by enamel erosion and stain your teeth by turning them yellow. The biggest candy problems are those types that dissolve very slowly in your mouth such as flavored suckers and hard candies because they give the acid more time to attack the teeth. In an earlier blog we pointed out the potential problem of acid erosion on child teeth when too much acidic juice is given to children without properly neutralizing the acid subsequent to drinking the juice. We also have discussed a number of things that will cause teeth to be stained or discolored as well as solutions to problems associated with whitening teeth which help avoid problematic situations.
Dr Janket indicates that chewing gum with artificial sweeteners is the least problematic item because it stimulates saliva and swallowing which can assist in removing any harmful acids that erode teeth. The doctor states that the least harmful hard candies are those that contain any of the mint family as flavoring–spearmint, peppermint and wintergreen–as well as butterscotch flavoring.
It is recommended that you rinse well with water after eating any type candy and brush your teeth as soon as possible. These two things will assist in preventing potential problems associated with candy of all types.
Visit your Seattle Cosmetic Dentist at Brookside Dental today!
Great article. I find sugar free candies to be problematic among patients because they tend to promote unhealthy eating habits. Those who choose a sugar free candy often feel as though they “earn” the right to real sweets later. Creates somewhat of a 1 step forward, 3 steps backward situation.
I have tried Sathers sugar-free hard candy (Nutrasweet) with almost 4 grams of sugar alcohol per piece (14 g per 3 pieces. What is sugar alcohol? Is it as bad as sugar? The candy tastes about as good as the real stuff and has good strong fruity flavors.
Thank you for your informative blog. Our dental practice recently published a blog on the topics of ‘sweets’. We thought we’d pass the link along for your review as well.
The URL is:
http://www.adlerdentistry.com/blog/2012/01/23/understanding-sweet-tooth/
Thanks for the comment and visiting us.
Thanks for sharing such a useful info.
Thanks for this very interesting post!
Thanks for the post.
It seems like “Diet Candies” or “Diet Cokes” only trick you into thinking that they are healthier than normal products. It’s best for us to stay away from them too if we really want to be healthy.
Napier,
You are correct. Thanks for the comment and the visit to our blog.
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I never thought to just rinse my mouth if I couldn’t brush. I’m going to start doing that because I’m not quite ready to give up the candy… thanks for the article.
Thanks for stopping by Kyle. I know what you mean.
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