Sour Candy Is Extremely Hard on Teeth

Sour candies can produce acid levels so strong in the mouth, that they can contribute to chemical erosion of your teeth.

These candies include, but are not limited to: Warheads, Extreme Air Heads, Sour Skittles, Laffy Taffy, Starburst, Sweet Tarts, BubbleTape, and Baby Bottle Tops.

Sour candies contain citric or phosphoric acid in them that produce a sour sensation on the tongue.

The term "pH" is a measure of acid level. Your mouth's acid level when healthy hovers around a pH of 7.0, which is neutral. A 1.0 is the most acidic. Your enamel can begin to erode when the pH of your mouth is at 5.5 or below for over 20 minutes. The tooth structure at your gumline can begin to erode at closer to 6.0.

Some of these candies have acid levels so strong, your mouth pH can be at 1.5 after sucking on them for 20 minutes. By comparison, battery acid is 1.0

Be very careful consuming these candies, they can cause more cavity and tooth destruction than chocolate or caramel.

Here is an example of a specific sour candy:



Here are the specific ingredients



The first THREE ingrediants are all types of sugar, then after corn starch there are FOUR CONSECUTIVE ACIDS.

Remember the formula for cavities is:
Bacteria (that's already in your mouth) + Sugar + Acid = Cavity.

This product (and if you pick up nearly any sour candy, the ingrediants are similar) should really come with a warning like you see on a package of cigarettes or a bottle of an alcoholic product that says: "Consumption of this food item will cause cavities".

With candy like this being so accessible to your children and teenagers, it is no wonder that cavities in children's teeth are on the rise!