Mom's Dental Health and Baby's Dental Health

Dental disease, especially cavities, is contagious!  The truth is a vast majority of infants "get" their dental disease from mom.  Sadly, in an attempt to improve dental health for infants and toddlers, recent literature has been admonishing mothers to avoid:

1)      Slobbery face to face nuzzling and kissing of their babies.

2)      Sharing spoons and cups with infants while helping them learn to eat.

3)      Cleaning baby's oral items like pacifiers and teething rings by licking them off yourself.

To me that is a bit like telling moms not to be moms.  Don't do those cuddly face to face things that moms do so well?  Children get their oral bacterial balance from somewhere, so if it is not mom, who will it be?  Spin the roulette wheel and hope?  No.  The focus is to create good oral health for mom.  Then she can pass her healthy balance of bacteria to her child!  Evidence shows that mom’s with a healthy balance of bacteria in their mouths have babies who "get" disease causing bacteria much later as toddlers. Evidence is also clear; toddlers who establish a cavity causing bacteria in their mouths later have fewer cavities for a lifetime.  The next few blogs will explore:

1)  Good oral health helps a healthy pregnancy.

2)  Poor oral health is associated with pre-term delivery and low birth weights.

3)  Dental care during pregnancy is safe.

4)  Improving oral health is in your hands, it is simple, and it is NOT expensive.

5)  Xylitol, toothpaste, mouth rinses and other over-the-counter products can improve your oral health if used correctly.

So until the next week, remember:

Don't floss all your teeth; just the ones you want to keep.

Scott Thompson, DDS
Pediatric Dentistry

Setting Your Child’s Cavity Risk Early

Few people realize that cavities are the result of a contagious disease. As infants, when we are teething those precious little baby teeth, we are also being exposed to the kinds of bacteria that cause cavities. These bacteria typically come from our closest caretakers, like moms, dads, nannies and siblings. Typically via slobbery kisses, shared spoons, and other close encounters. It is inevitable so don’t panic about it. However, there are numerous ways to insure this contagion will not destroy your child’s teeth.

First, reduce the amount of bad bacteria being transferred to the child. Parents with clean healthy mouths and no recent cavities will have fewer of the cavity causing bacteria in their saliva. Learn how to truly clean your teeth when brushing and flossing. Also, if you are a gum chewer or mint popper, find Xylitol gum and mints on the internet and health food stores. There are numerous studies showing dramatic reduction of the cavity causing bacteria in the mouths of those who put Xylitol (a natural sweetener) in their mouths several times daily.

Secondly, don’t feed those bacteria and promote their growth. These bacteria thrive on sugars and simple carbohydrates (cooked starch). It has been shown that frequent (frequency is the issue here!) exposure to simple carbohydrates promotes the preferred growth of the cavity causing bacteria (mutans streptococcus, sobrinus streptococcus, etc.). If we promote these bacteria early, they establish in high numbers and will continue to be in high numbers in the saliva and on teeth for a lifetime. Juice is an especially common mistake in sippy cups and bottles. Let’s not do that to our children. When your children are ready to give up milk and formula in the bottle, move to water. Do not, I repeat, do not start them on juice or any other sweetened beverage when they move away from milk, unless your pediatrician has specifically written a prescription for your child to have juice because of some metabolic reason. Ask your pediatrician and they will confirm this. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not support the use of juice as a snack or hydration beverage until age 4. Even at age 4 there is a word of caution and recommendation for continued use of water.

Thirdly, clean your child’s teeth effectively each day. It has been shown that the more the plaque (a biofilm of over 600 different bacteria) builds on the teeth, the more it promotes the acid loving bacteria that cause cavities. By simply disrupting this biofilm each day and forcing it to rebuild will prevent it from maturing to the level that it harbors and promotes the growth of the acid loving bacteria that make cavities. As the plaque matures and stagnates, it supports acid loving bacteria which begin to flourish and dominate the plaque. As acid loving bacteria numbers grow, they begin to control the plaque growth and with a higher balance in the saliva, they cause a more rapid maturing of the plaque into a destructive acid loving plaque which dissolves holes in the calcium rich enamel of your teeth. Once established, this balance can be extremely hard to change and may remain for a lifetime. Don’t let it start.

Give your kids a healthy start. Help them become water drinkers as a habit and you will create a lifetime of better health for them. Clean the gum line and between teeth daily to promote a healthier bacterial balance in your mouth’s dental biofilm. If you like gum or mints, discover Xylitol.