Why do some people get cavities and others do not? There are many factors involved, but the three main ones are genetics, oral hygiene and of course, sugar consumption. A lot of people don’t understand that it’s not just about how much sugar (whether it’s refined like in candy or pop or natural like in fruits) you consume but also how you consume it. By that I mean, it is much better to eat a package of candy in one quick sitting as opposed to having a little all day long. To understand why, you need to understand why a cavity forms in the first place. The sugar you eat is also consumed by the bacteria in your mouth. When they do so, they produce acid as a byproduct, which in turn increases the acidity of your mouth. You’ll only get a cavity if the acidity in your mouth stays high for a critical amount of time. If you eat all your sweets quickly, you give your mouth a chance to buffer the acid. If you have a small amount of sugar all day long, your mouth never gets a chance to recover, the acidity stays high for that critical amount of time, and a cavity may form.
Dr. Jay Rabinovich