Are cavities contagious?
New research says decay is no different than other infections
Sept. 17 – We all know your kids can
catch your cold when you’re sick, but new ground breaking
research shows how they can also catch your cavities. So how can
cavities be contagious? Dr. Christine Dumas talks to “Today”
about how it happens and what you can do to stop it.
MOST PEOPLE do not understand that dental decay
is the end point of a transmissible, communicable bacterial infection
no different than other infections that impact our bodies.
Strep Mutans
Dental decay is caused by a bacterium, Streptococcus mutans, which
is contagious, like the common cold or flu and it’s being
spread from adults to children.
Dentist and our parents led us to believe that candy,
sugar and sweets are what caused cavities — that there was
a direct correlation between how many fillings we have and how
many cavities we had growing up and how much candy we were able
to sneak into our daily diets without our parents knowing. Others
were told that we had “soft teeth” or that getting
cavities was inevitable.
Now, researchers are making groundbreaking advances in understanding
how the bacteria that cause cavities are transferred from one
person to another. They are discovering for the very first time
why some of us have lots of cavities and others don’t.
How it spreads
Researchers have found that this bacteria is passed from adult
to child through kissing, sharing utensils or any other activity
that transmits any minute particle of saliva from one mouth to
the other, like talking closely to the child.
There is a “window of infectivity” which
is especially critical in children from 6 to 36 months of age,
but all children are susceptible. People do not pass Strep mutans
to each other as adults.
Stopping infections: Routine checkups for parents/caregivers
By next year, there will be a simple test that can measure the
level of this bacteria in adults and children. But in the meantime,
the first thing that parents need to do is make an appointment
to go to the dentist: for themselves.
If you are not getting regular dental care, with
six month check-ups at a minimum, you are infecting your children
every time you kiss them.
What we often find is that women make regular dental
appointments and men don’t. Many of them are operating under
the philosophy that if “nothing hurts, everything must be
fine” and sometimes we see moms and dads who haven’t
been for 5 or 10 years.
Research studies have shown that many young mothers
have not seen a dentist in 5 to 7 years before giving birth. They
carry huge colonies of S. mutans in their mouths.
This new research is motivating everyone into better
dental care because parents don’t want to infect their children.
They care about keeping their kids healthy more than they care
about themselves.
Is the dental health of caretakers just as critical?
If your child spends long periods of time with a caretaker, it
is important to take a close look at the dental health of that
individual. The better their dental health and hygiene, the less
chance your child will have of picking up the bacteria that cause
cavities from their mouth.
What about daycares?
Check if daycare provides prevention. Parents must remember that
just as a caretaker can transmit infection, so can playmates at
day care centers if children are allowed to share toys or eating
utensils that are placed in the mouth.
If your children are in a day care setting, you
need to speak to the director of the program and ask them what
steps they are taking to reduce the possibility of transmission
from one child to another.
How can your dentist help?
First, your dentist can make sure your mouth is free of decay
and infection. After that, there are a couple of preventive measures
that are especially effective in the war against these bacteria:
Antimicrobial rinses: A prescription rinse like Chlorhexidine
can permanently or as the researchers like to put it, fatally,
disrupt the cell membrane of these bacteria, reducing the levels
in the parents mouth and preventing transmission to the child.
Xylitol: This is a non-cavity causing sugar
substitute found in some chewing gums that makes it almost impossible
for Strep mutans to adhere and cause trouble. Studies have shown
that chewing a gum with 100 percent xylitol three times a day
for a minimum of 5 minutes each time can stop the transmission
of bacteria from mother to child even more effectively than antimicrobial
prescription rinses. However, there isn’t this much xylitol
in gum yet but many companies are trying to get FDA approval for
the full strength gum.
Avoid giving kids sugary juices
Any juice with sugar is the fuel that these bacteria need to grow.
Milk doesn’t feed strep mutans the way that sugar laden
juices do.
When putting an infant to bed with a bottle, make
sure it only contains plain water — many baby formulas contain
sugar.
Encouraging your kids to brush daily
A lot of research has been done to see what motivates kids to
brush, and more specifically to brush longer. The two newest and
most popular kid-friendly options: Spiderman and the astronaut.
Research done on these SpinBrushes show that kids will brush 38
percent longer than they would with a manual toothbrush. A five
dollar investment that makes your kids want to make brush longer
can reduce your family’s dental bills significantly.
Parents need to remember that until children are
about the age of eight they don’t have the manual dexterity
to brush all of the plaque off by themselves. Power toothbrushes
help and parents need to double check the brushing prowess of
their kids.
How can applying dental sealant help?
Research has found that sealant can prevent four out of five cavities
in children under the age of 15. Sealant are clear resin protective
coatings for the chewing surfaces of your children’s teeth.
Some of the newer sealant even have fluoride in them.
Dentists usually start applying sealant as the permanent
teeth start coming in but in especially cavity-prone kids, dentists
are beginning to apply sealants to the children’s primary
(baby) teeth to stop the chain of dental disease even earlier.
This comprehensive program of addressing the dental
needs of the adults and adult caretakers, as well as children,
helps avoid a lifetime of dental work and dental repairs and allows
patients to actually take control of their dental destiny.