Meaning & use
cariogenic
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivenot comparabletechnical
Able to cause tooth decay.
Grammar: Used mainly before a noun, as in 'cariogenic foods'; it is not usually used after a linking verb.
Patterns
- cariogenic food
- cariogenic diet
- cariogenic bacteria
Dentists warn that frequent snacking on cariogenic foods can harm your teeth.
The study tested whether the drink was cariogenic in young children.
A cariogenic diet high in sugar increases the risk of cavities.
Common combinations
- cariogenic bacteria
- Certain cariogenic bacteria break down sugar and produce acid.
- cariogenic diet
- A cariogenic diet full of sweets can lead to early tooth decay.
- cariogenic potential
- Researchers compared the cariogenic potential of different types of juice.
- highly cariogenic
- Sticky candies are considered highly cariogenic because they stay on the teeth.
Synonyms and how they differ
- decay-causing
- This is a plain, everyday phrase that means the same thing but is not a technical term.
- caries-producing
- A more formal alternative used in some scientific writing, but less common than 'cariogenic'.
Opposites
Word family
- caries noun
- The medical term for tooth decay.
- cariogenicity noun
- The quality or degree of being able to cause tooth decay.
Commonly confused: cariogenic or carcinogenic?
cariogenic vs carcinogenic
This means 'cancer-causing', not 'tooth-decay-causing'. They sound similar but refer to very different health risks.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'cariogenic' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Cariogenic' is an adjective meaning 'able to cause tooth decay', so it fits after 'are' in sentence 0. Sentence 1 wrongly adds 'to eat', sentence 2 uses 'very ... than' instead of a comparative form, and sentence 3 invents the adverb 'cariogenicly'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cariogenic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.