Dental dangers: what you may be passing to ......

Updated: Thursday, April 24 2014, 11:23 PM EDT Rochester, N.Y. – Already at the age of five, Imari James has had four cavities. "It kind of makes me feel like I'm not doing my job, like I'm not doing what I have to do to take care of her dental hygiene," Imari's mom Shavon Alvarado said. Alvardo says she’s never had a problem with her teeth and she makes sure her children brush daily. But even so, Ellie Phillips, D.D.S. says some parents can do everything right and may unknowingly pass bacteria to their children that can cause cavities and tooth decay. "Studies from the 1970's were done where they determined it was from the mother's mouths and now with DNA testing they can actually show that when mothers kiss and cuddle or lick the pacifier that their bacteria is being transferred to the child's first tooth," Dr. Ellie Phillips said. Once inside the mouth, it spreads quickly. "I would say it's almost a pandemic because it's now out of control," Said Dr. Phillips. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 42 percent of children, age two to eleven, have cavities in their baby teeth. 21 percent of children, age six to eleven, have cavities in their adult teeth.

 And left unattended, pediatric dentist with the Eastman Oral Institute, Dr. Erin Shope, says it can lead to severe consequences. "Worst case I've seen has been a young child, say three or four years of age, out of the 20 teeth that they had, all of them had cavities to the point where we couldn't save the teeth, we had to take all his teeth out," Dr. Shope said.....

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