I found something in my files on this issue.  The Austin American Statesman
printed an art. on 6-14-94 which it picked up from the Washington Post,
titled"Saliva of mother may slow cavities." It cites a study published in the
journal, Pediatric Dentistry, Mar/Ap 1994, of a group of 7 mo old  Finnish
infants prospectively followed for 5-7 yrs.  They lived in a city without
flouridated water, and were not placed on sugar-restricted diets.
 Researchers found that "mothers who transfer saliva (sharing spoons and
kissing on mouth) help build up the child's antibodies to the bacteria that
initiate cavities...The children who as infants had frequent oral contact
with their mothers had significantly fewer cavities.  More than half of the
children with infrequent oral contact with their mothers had cavities in
their primary molars and canine teeth , compared with 19% of the children
with freq. close contact.  This better oral health resulted dispite the fact
that more children in the freq. contact group had a high sugar intake. "
 There were no signif. diff. between the two groups in other factors that
might influence cavities, such as flouride use, teeth brushing, teeth spacing
or mother's sugar consumption.
Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSE, IBCLC
Austin, Tx