I’m a dentist. If cavities vanished tomorrow, it would definitely change things, but not as much as you might guess. Cavities and crowns make up a decent slice of what most general practices do, but there’s still gum disease, cracked teeth, teeth wear, implants, bite issues, cosmetic work, and so on. A lot of what keeps people coming in isn’t just sugar, although from the outside I understand why it might look like sugar is the whole game.

Financially, there’d be a short-term hit for offices that rely heavily on fillings, but the field would adjust. Most of us would focus more on prevention, maintenance, and elective care. Dentistry has already been slowly shifting that direction for years with better materials, scanners, and aligners.

So if everyone suddenly stopped getting cavities, I’d still have plenty to do. It would just look a little different.