Keep Your Child's Teeth Healthy By Keeping Your Own Teeth Healthy

Childhood dental caries, or "cavities", is an infectious disease. Read that again, and let it sink in. Childhood caries is an infectious disease. 

Infections are caused by the transfer of bacteria or viruses from one person to the next . In the case of early childhood caries, the bacteria is passed from the child's caregiver, usually the mother, to the child via sharing of utensils, or kissing on the lips.

The window of infectivity is the first two years of life. If the bacteria is passed from caregiver to child in the first two years of the child's life, the child's chances of getting cavities are dramatically increased.

How does this process happen? The bacteria in the mouth break down food, and in the process, produce acids. These acids break down tooth enamel and the caries process begins. The more sweet foods the child eats, the greater the chance of caries formation. Keep in mind that the frequency of sugar consumption is more harmful than the quantity of sugar consumption.

What can be done?

• If you are a child's caregiver, keep your teeth clean and healthy. Fill any existing cavities in your own mouth;
• Do not share used utensils with your child;
• Do not kiss your child on the lips;
• Limit the frequency of sugar consumption for both you and your child;
• Take your child to see the dentist between the ages of 6 months to 1 year;
• Help your child brush their teeth;
• Have the dentist give your child a fluoride treatment every 3-6 months depending on the caries state of your child;
• Examine your child's teeth for caries. You will see white spots or brown spots in areas of active tooth decay; and
• Use tap water as often as possible in order to increase the fluoride exposure to the teeth.

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"Nothing Hurts, So I Must Be All Right." - WRONG!

It seems to make sense that when something is wrong with your body, it would hurt. Many times it does.

What does not always make sense, but often is true, is that things may "feel fine", yet there is something seriously wrong. Just think of the person that has a heart attack seemingly out of the blue. It was not just out of the blue. That person's cardiovascular condition was deteriorating for years prior to the attack, but the person never had any pain, and thought they were fine.

When it comes to your mouth, please know:

Not all cavities will cause pain or sensitivity. Some do, others don't. 

Just because you have never had a cavity in your life does not mean you do not have one now, and/or never will in the future. 

Even stranger, not all abscessed, or "infected", teeth hurt. Reason is, the nerve of the tooth may already be dead. Not a pleasant thought.

Sometimes our bodies will send us a signal that something is wrong by setting our pain receptors in fireworks mode. Other times, our bodies are just on vacation, and no pain signal gets put into our brain's inboxes.

So, stick with your biannual dental checkups and cleanings, along with x-rays as recommended. Even though your pain signals may be "off", your dentist will have a chance to catch things before it is too late.

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