LactNetters -- Marie sent the whole newspaper article to me, and I thought
it interesting enough to pass on.  They seem to be implying that there is
some specific strain of bacteria passed on during a short window around 2
years of age (so not related to breastfeeding or not, premasticating food
for infants, etc.), that later causes cavities in the 7-9 year range.  It
must be some particular strain of bacteria that only some people have, not
the average mouthful of junk we all carry around.  Interesting line of
research.  I will write to them and ask for more details, and if they are
planning to distinguish whether breast or bottle-fed (using WHO
definitions!) and what kind of formula, as that might be important to know.

>Kathy it was such a short blip that I'll reproduce it here. It is filled with
>run on sentances.
> There's a picture of a mommy tooth and a baby toothe both with large red
>puckered lips off to the side and it reads as follows:

>"Dental Cavities: Mother may transmit cuplrit bacteria to baby. Intimate,
>face-to-face moments with mom are the main way cavity-causing bacteria get
>transmitted to children, dentrisrty Professor Page Caufield says. The mother
>can transmit a strain of bacteria to her child that in some cases leads to
>tooth decay, he says. Researchers at the Specialized Caries Research Center
>at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, directed by Caufield, believe
>transmission of cavity-causing bacteria occur in a specific window of
>time--ususally when the child is about 2 years old, although cavities don't
>show up until ages 7 to 9. "If you copuld protect a child somehow from getting
>exposure during that window period, then they could be prevented from getting
>cavities," Caufield said.
>     An immunologist co-directing the project, Michael Russell, said 200 to
>300 pairs of mothers and infants will be recruited for a study in which
>mothers and children will be followed from birth to three years of life.
>Women at high risk for transmitting cavity-causing bacteria will be treated
>with antimicrobial agents."
>The Press-Enterprise, Tuesday October 10, 1995.


Kathy Dettwyler