Blowing on food is one of the many strange ways parents can give their kids cavities. Photo via Maria Narvaez.
A dental insurance company is seeking to educate parents on how to prevent cavities in babies and children by educating them beyond the adages of brushing their teeth and limiting sweets. United Concordia Dental wants to celebrate October’s National Dental Hygiene Month by informing parents about widely unusual and unknown ways in which babies can get cavities.
For example, did you know that blowing on your toddler’s food to cool it off can cause a youngster to get dental cavities? Other usual causes of decay are kissing babies and children on the lips and sharing forks or spoons.
Cavities create holes in the teeth caused from decay and plaque. Kissing babies can spread the bateria mutans streptococci which can be transferred though saliva from either parent and is one of the main contributors of cavities in infants. Also of note, mutans streptcocci is also implicated in certain cardiovascular diseases in adults.
Attentive care to an infants teeth is recommended.
Dr. Jerome Blum, D.D.S. recommends wiping a baby’s mouth clean, including teeth, tongue and gums with a wet cloth, especially after drinking or eating.
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