cariogenic

1 8.0

A food or drink that causes cavities in teeth

adjective
/ˌkɛrɪoʊˈdʒɛnɪk/

Specialized

: cariogénico

Many soft drinks contain cariogenic ingredients that can damage your teeth.

Examples

Patients should be treated for opportunistic oral infections in light of the replacement of normal oral flora with cariogenic bacteria and candidiasis.

Academic text (1999)
Consuming sugary snacks can be cariogenic, increasing the risk of cavities.
Frequent intake of cariogenic foods like candy may lead to serious dental problems.

Surface Forms

cariogenic positive

Morphology

cariogenic = caries (semi-transparent) = cario + genic

The word is built from a medical combining form meaning 'related to caries' plus the productive suffix '-genic' meaning 'producing', but the specialized dental meaning is not easily guessed by a general learner.

Etymology

Cariogenic comes from the Latin root caries ('decay') and the part -genic ('producing'), like in generate. So, cariogenic literally means 'producing decay', which is why we use it for foods or bacteria that cause dental cavities.