Candy That Doesn’t Cause Cavities

Well, hi there! Thanks for clicking by today. As always it's a treat to see you. Speaking of treats, help yourself to a mugful of coffee and a virtual doughnut. Go ahead... choose one smothered in ooey-gooey chocolate, why don't'cha? Now, apparently, you don't have to worry so much about getting cavities. 

Dentists have always warned us that too much candy (and we would have to include ooey-gooey chocolate icing) will cause cavities. But all that could be a thing of the past, thanks to a new experiment by scientists from the Berlin biotechnology firm, OrganoBalance.

It turns out that candy doesn’t cause cavities at all. The bad guys are actually the bacteria that remain on our teeth after we eat sugary treats. So the scientists’ logic was simple – reduce the amount of ‘bad’ bacteria in candy, and the chances of cavities should naturally decrease.

After you eat a normal piece of candy, the bacteria on your teeth slowly release an acid that eats into tooth enamel. When the enamel wears down, it causes cavities to develop. One of the most common strains of bacteria responsible for cavities is mutans streptococci. 

When you chew candy, this bacteria is released into the saliva. If you swallow or spit, some of the bacteria is removed, but the remaining sits on your teeth and causes them to rot. 

So the secret is to get rid of that nasty bacteria on your teeth as soon as you can. Ideally, though this is still under scientific study, why not wash it off with coffee? Even more ideally, there would be no sugar in your coffee...though I suppose you would be allowed a substitute sweetener like Xylitol which has 1/3 fewer calories than sugar, eh. Now you can have your doughnut and eat it, too.

See ya, eh!

Bob