The Hard Truth About Hard Candy

Sugar Stash

Placing a piece of hard candy in your mouth means (unless it is sugar-free) that your mouth will be filled with sugar. Lots of it. For a long while. Sounds delicious for you, maybe, but even more delicious for the bacteria in your mouth. While your saliva production is increased (good), so is the sugar level (not good). Putting your teeth and gums in contact with a piece of candy for an extended period of time is a great way to encourage cavities to set up shop in your mouth and the concentrated sugars can easily erode the liner of the mouth and tongue and cause mouth sores. 

Chip Off The Old Block

Hard candy is exactly what its name says it is: hard. You may not have the patience to find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of the Tootsie Pop, and instead find yourself cracking away and chewing hard candy instead of sucking on it. As far as candy names go, Jaw Breakers isn’t too far off.

Your teeth are in danger of being chipped or cracked as your hard-candy impatience grows. Any orthodontic or dental work is in danger of damage for the same reason.

The Usual Suspects

When you have a cold, he might seem like your friend, but watch out for Cough Drop. He might soothe your cough but he’s wreaking havoc on your teeth. Had a full meal with garlic and onions? Peppermint Lozenge sounds like a wise choice, but unless he’s sugar-free, he’s busily making a full meal of your teeth. Remember that the Jolly Rancher, and his many relatives, don’t make your teeth so jolly. The steady delivery of bacteria-feeding sugar from hard candy is incredibly hard on your teeth.

Avoid hard candy if you can, and choose sugar-free if you must have it. Whatever you do, don’t chew and crack it. Hard candy is just too hard on your teeth.


Source: Dr. Aaron Johnson- The Smile Center
 http://thesmilecenter.com/the-hard-truth-about-hard-candy/