When individuals see the label "sugar-free" on a service or drink, they instinctively believe their teeth are safe. After all, so often, sugar is to blame for cavities. While reducing sugar would be favorable for your pearly whites, not every sugar-free product is favorable for your teeth. Diets today have much sugar or sugar substitutes and processed foods that are detrimental to oral health in numerous ways. The Myth of "Sugar-Free = Safe for Teeth" Sugar-free items can have artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose. Or they can have a sugar alcohol like xylitol, maltitol, sorbitol, and a few others. Such substitutes do not break down in the mouth as much as sugar does. Thus cavity causing bacteria do not thrive on them the way they do sugar. But here's the catch: Many sugar-free foods and drinks are acidic, and acid breaks down tooth enamel. Acidic sugar alcohols in the mouth can ferment to feed bacteria in the mouth in small amounts....