Sour candies might make you laugh, squirm, or pucker your lips—but dentists warn they can seriously damage your teeth.
These popular treats are more than just fun and flavorful. According to dental experts, they’re also a big reason behind weakened tooth enamel and cavities.
Dr. Nadine Tassabehji, a dental professor at Tufts University in Boston, says that sour candies are especially harmful because they mix sugar and strong acids. While all candy can be bad for your teeth, sour candies are worse because of their high acid levels.
Ingredients like citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and fumaric acid are what give sour candies their punch. But they’re also harsh on your enamel, the hard outer layer that protects your teeth.
When you eat candy, the sugar makes your mouth more acidic. In response, your body tries to fix this by pulling minerals like calcium from your teeth. This weakens the enamel and makes teeth more likely to develop holes and decay.
The problem is even bigger with sticky candies like sour gummies. Because they’re sticky, they hang around in your mouth much longer than other sweets. This gives the sugar and acid more time to attack your teeth. Dr. Tassabehji calls it “a recipe for trouble.”
Despite these risks, sour candies have become more popular than ever. Over the past 10 years, sales of sour candy have jumped by about 70%. This boom is partly due to viral trends on TikTok and YouTube, where kids and teens take part in “sour candy challenges” to see who can handle the most sour flavor.
Even adults enjoy them. A study in 2024 from Penn State University showed that 1 in 8 adults likes very sour flavors. Some social media posts even claim sour candy helps reduce anxiety, though there is no science to back this up.
If you think brushing your teeth right after eating sour candy is the solution, think again. Dr. Tassabehji says brushing immediately after eating something sour can make things worse. When your mouth is already full of acid, brushing just spreads it around, speeding up enamel damage.
Instead, the best first step is to rinse your mouth with water. This helps wash away the acid. If you feel like some candy is stuck between your teeth, use floss to remove it.
Drinking milk can also help. Milk and other dairy products are great at neutralizing acid quickly because they contain calcium and other minerals. After eating sour candy, wait at least 30 minutes before brushing with a fluoride toothpaste. This gives your mouth time to calm down and allows your enamel to start healing.
Dr. Tassabehji points out that not all sour foods are bad. Fermented foods like pickles, sauerkraut, or kombucha are actually good for your digestion. But sour candies? “They are just sugar and water,” she says. The sour taste comes from added flavorings, not natural ingredients.
In short, sour candies may be tasty and trendy, but they’re no friend to your teeth. If you enjoy them once in a while, take extra care with your dental hygiene. And remember—sometimes the things that taste fun can have sour side effects on your health.
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