You’d think that children of dentists would score top grades in dental health. Well, that isn’t always the case. Take our four-year-old, for example.

My wife and I are both Philippine dentists, so it puzzled and disappointed us to find a couple of gray areas (initial sign of cavities) forming in between our son’s lower front teeth, despite our meticulous cary preventive routine. Disappointed, she started doing research and came to the conclusion that our son inherited her salivary ph, which is a bit on the acidic side.  This doesn’t come as too much of a surprise because studies show that infants get the common oral bacterial flora primarily from their mothers since they are the ones who are physically closer – sharing oral utensils, kissing, etc. My wife, while growing up, was very meticulous about her oral health but noticed that no matter what she did, cavities do crop up now and then, while I was virtually cavity free (my saliva ph was on the basic side). Continue reading Prevent your kids’ cavities →