CLEVELAND — Cavities can be a real pain (no pun intended) especially when it comes to little kids. Dentists are recommending kids come in for dental screenings even before the age of one. This is because by 2 years old, 20% of American children already have tooth decay.
In today's Mom Squad, Maureen Kyle talks to Dr. Susan Maples DDS, who is an author and parenting expert about how bacteria introduced in their mouths as babies lead to more cavities.
“We consider that window of infectivity six months to three and a half years old. Which makes a big difference in the long run,” says Dr. Maples.
“Microbial diversity in kids is depleted in all of us about half in 50 years and whenever we suppress a whole bunch of different bugs, others overgrow. So that's changing a lot and it's because of ultra's processed food.”
Dr. Maples explains that our food supply is narrowed down to about 12 species of plants and five animal species, so that is what’s causing the microbiome issue.
Many dentists will now recommend seeing kids for their first screening by the age of one, because by the age of 2, many already have tooth decay.
In the full episode of Mom Squad, we tackle a lot of issues, including why kids are getting braces at younger ages. Many parents are skeptical about kids getting a first round of braces, but Dr. Maples explains why kids facial development is changing.
You can see the entire episode on our WKYC Plus channel on Roku and Fire TV. If you don’t have either one of those, you can watch on our WKYC YouTube page or below.
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