The Scariest Halloween Candies for Your Teeth

Newswise — Spooky surprises abound for trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. Was that a spider web that brushed my face? Where’s that howling coming from? Did that skeleton’s hand just move on its own?

And then there’s this unnerving news: Sour candies, which are among the most popular confections right now, are frightfully bad for your teeth, even more so than some sweeter-tasting culprits like gummies or lollipops.

The villain is the acidity of the sour concoctions, usually provided via citric, malic, tartaric or fumaric acids. “I want to emphasize why these acidic candies are of more concern than regular candies,” says Nadine Tassabehji, an assistant professor of comprehensive care at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine who specializes in the field of nutrition and oral health.

To start with, all sugary candy—sour or not—causes the pH of your saliva to drop, making it more acidic, says Tassabehji. One of the ways the mouth neutralizes that acid is to draw minerals like potassium and calcium from the teeth, a process known as demineralization.  That process can erode the enamel—the hard, white outer layer of the teeth—and make teeth susceptible to cavities.

The acid in sour candies poses an added risk beyond that of sugar alone, a compounding effect, as Tassabehji explains. “These candies combine two factors that increase mouth acidity and accelerate enamel erosion,” she says. And scarier still is if the sour candies are sticky. “If they stick to your teeth, they stay there much longer,” she says. “That sticky, acidic, and sugary mix is a recipe for trouble.” 

Alas, it looks like sour candies are likely to stick around for the foreseeable future. Industry figures show sales of the category that includes sour candies have grown as much as 70% over the past decade, and analysts are predicting robust growth for sour treats over the next several years. 

Social media, for example, is peppered with videos of “sour candy challenges” where TikTokers or YouTubers consume extraordinarily mouth-puckering items, complete with contorted faces and cartoon-style, over-the-top physical reactions. (Please, don’t try that at home, kids!) And it’s not just kids—a 2024 study from the Sensory Evaluation Center at Penn State University found that about one in eight adults like “intensely sour sensations” like the ones in sour candies. These candies are also being promoted online—without solid scientific evidence—as ways to relieve anxiety and panic attacks. 

When to brush—or not to brush 

Your toothbrush can help ward off the evil effects of sour candies—but only if used at the right time. It might seem counterintuitive, but don’t brush your teeth immediately after eating or drinking anything acidic, including fruit juice or soda. 

“Whenever you have acidity in the mouth, you never want to go in with a toothbrush, because what you’re really doing is helping the acidity spread and eat away at the tooth enamel,” says Tassabehji. 

“What we recommend as a first step is rinsing the mouth with water,” she says. “If anything is stuck between the teeth, use floss to remove it.” 

Drinking milk can also help. “Dairy is a really good way to neutralize the acid very quickly,” Tassabehji says. Non-dairy milks can also work if they have calcium added. 

Wait at least 30 minutes until brushing, and make sure you use a toothpaste with fluoride, because topical fluoride restores enamel, she says. 

Tassabehji cautions not to treat all sour foods as unhealthy. The appeal of sour candy has developed alongside an increased popular appreciation of preserved or fermented foods such as pickles and kombucha, which have nutritional benefits for gut health.

“Fermented foods are definitely good for our gut microbiome, but sour candies are not,” Tassabehji says. “They are just sugar and water, and usually the sour taste is from additives or flavorings.”