Kissing Causes Cavities?
According to a press release from Elisa Mello, DDS, of NYC-based Smile Design, the answer is a resounding yes! Mello says, "Cavities are caused by bacteria in our mouths and these bacteria can be passed through saliva onto someone you are kissing, thereby causing cavities." But don't call it quits on kissing just yet! Here are her tips:
- Brush your teeth effectively and often. If you are unable to brush after every meal, brush at least twice a day.
- Eat good dental foods—an apple a day will keep both the doctor and the dentist away. Fiber-rich and crunchy foods are natural tooth cleaners. Avoid any starchy or sticky foods. These can get trapped in between teeth and eventually break down into sugar, which cause tooth decay.
- Never go to sleep with an unclean mouth. When we sleep we have a reduced salivary flow. If you don’t wash away the cavity causing bacteria, your mouth won’t either.
LOL, I envision a whole new kind of dirty talk ... "come on baby, give me your bacteria" ;-)
You know, when I first heard about the bacteria causing cavity thing, it made me want to rinse my mouth with Listerine after kissing hubby, who had a couple of cavities filled before we met, lol, but now I just have to laugh when they say we have "a reduced salivary flow" when we sleep because, well, at the risk of TMI, my pillow says otherwise, lol.