{"id":158,"date":"2016-10-13T14:18:17","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T14:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/?p=158"},"modified":"2020-05-04T12:03:26","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T12:03:26","slug":"could-cavities-be-contagious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Cavities Be Contagious?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/box2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-85\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-85\" src=\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/box2-150x132.jpg\" alt=\"box2\" width=\"150\" height=\"132\" \/><\/a>As parents, you work hard to help your children prevent cavities. You make sure they are brushing and flossing regularly and you limit their intake of sugary foods and drinks. However, did you know that the bacteria that causes tooth decay can actually be shared from person to person. That\u2019s right; cavities are contagious.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Cavities develop as a result of a bacteria called mutans streptococcus. This bacteria loves to feed on sugars in the mouth. They create an acid that destroys the outer layer of the teeth (enamel). This process continues until an area of decay or cavity forms. While brushing and flossing is the best way to eliminate bacteria from your mouth, the task may be a daunting one if the bacteria is consistently being transferred from another source.<\/p>\n<p>To prevent the spread of cavity causing bacteria in your family, implement these tips:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t Share your Fork or Spoon<\/strong><br \/>\nFamilies have a habit of eating off of someone else&#8217;s plate or using each other\u2019s eating utensils when they want to steal a bite. This is especially common between a parent and young child or toddler. Unfortunately, while you think you may be sharing some yummy food, you may also be sharing cavity causing bacteria too.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t Clean A Pacifier In Your Mouth<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is not uncommon to see parents pop their child\u2019s pacifier in their mouth for a quick and easy cleaning after it has dropped on the floor. While you may think you are being a martyr for your child\u2019s health, you may actually be doing more harm than good. To avoid transferring mouth bacteria to your child, find a sink and clean your child\u2019s pacifier properly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t Share Toothbrushes<\/strong><br \/>\nEach member of your family should have his or her own toothbrush. Don\u2019t let your children get lazy and grab their sibling\u2019s toothbrush instead. In addition, store their toothbrushes separately to avoid the transfer of germs between bristles that are touching while drying.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t Neglect Your Oral Hygiene<\/strong><br \/>\nThe best way to stop contagious cavity germs is to have a clean mouth. Brush for two minutes, twice a day and floss daily. This creates a sterile oral environment where bacteria can\u2019t thrive.<\/p>\n<p>For more on tooth decay prevention, talk to the professionals of Soft Touch Dentistry. We love educating families on the best ways to care for their smile at home.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Posted on behalf of Dr. Sarah Thompson, Soft Touch Dentistry<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Follow us on:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/+SoftTouchDentistryOFallon\/about\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12\" src=\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/icon-googleplus.png\" alt=\"icon-googleplus\" width=\"30\" height=\"30\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Soft-Touch-Dentistry\/811442855549758?ref=hl\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/assets\/images\/icon-facebook.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"30\" height=\"30\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrSoftTouch?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/assets\/images\/icon-twitter.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"30\" height=\"30\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/drsofttouch\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/assets\/images\/icon-instagram.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"30\" height=\"30\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/drsofttouch\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/assets\/images\/icon-pinterest.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"30\" height=\"30\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Soft Touch Dentistry<\/p>\n<div>1214 Paragon Dr<br \/>\nO&#8217;Fallon, IL 62269<br \/>\n(618) 622-5050<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As parents, you work hard to help your children prevent cavities. You make sure they are brushing and flossing regularly and you limit their intake of sugary foods and drinks. However, did you know that the bacteria that causes tooth decay can actually be shared from person to person. That\u2019s right; cavities are contagious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-dentistry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Could Cavities Be Contagious? | O&#039;Fallon, IL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Could Cavities Be Contagious? | O&#039;Fallon, IL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As parents, you work hard to help your children prevent cavities. You make sure they are brushing and flossing regularly and you limit their intake of sugary foods and drinks. However, did you know that the bacteria that causes tooth decay can actually be shared from person to person. That\u2019s right; cavities are contagious.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"O&#039;Fallon, IL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-13T14:18:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-04T12:03:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/box2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"198\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"132\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rmATrEsOLI\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rmATrEsOLI\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/\",\"name\":\"Could Cavities Be Contagious? | O&#039;Fallon, IL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/box2-150x132.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-13T14:18:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-04T12:03:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4f7d54548a0c21314e9231b11c9ac7ba\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/box2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/box2.jpg\",\"width\":198,\"height\":132},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Could Cavities Be Contagious?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"O&#039;Fallon, IL\",\"description\":\"Our Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4f7d54548a0c21314e9231b11c9ac7ba\",\"name\":\"rmATrEsOLI\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb31eb0a217f995561256fd05511f534?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb31eb0a217f995561256fd05511f534?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"rmATrEsOLI\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/author\/rmATrEsOLI\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Could Cavities Be Contagious? | O&#039;Fallon, IL","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Could Cavities Be Contagious? | O&#039;Fallon, IL","og_description":"As parents, you work hard to help your children prevent cavities. You make sure they are brushing and flossing regularly and you limit their intake of sugary foods and drinks. However, did you know that the bacteria that causes tooth decay can actually be shared from person to person. That\u2019s right; cavities are contagious.","og_url":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/","og_site_name":"O&#039;Fallon, IL","article_published_time":"2016-10-13T14:18:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-04T12:03:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":198,"height":132,"url":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/box2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"rmATrEsOLI","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rmATrEsOLI","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/","url":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/","name":"Could Cavities Be Contagious? | O&#039;Fallon, IL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/box2-150x132.jpg","datePublished":"2016-10-13T14:18:17+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-04T12:03:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4f7d54548a0c21314e9231b11c9ac7ba"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/box2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/box2.jpg","width":198,"height":132},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/could-cavities-be-contagious\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Could Cavities Be Contagious?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/","name":"O&#039;Fallon, IL","description":"Our Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4f7d54548a0c21314e9231b11c9ac7ba","name":"rmATrEsOLI","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb31eb0a217f995561256fd05511f534?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fb31eb0a217f995561256fd05511f534?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"rmATrEsOLI"},"url":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/author\/rmATrEsOLI\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170,"href":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions\/170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsofttouch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}