Passive smoking may foster kids’ cavities
By Janet Raloff
Young children who grow up in an environment where people smoke face an exaggerated risk of dental decay–but only in their baby teeth, a new study finds.
Earlier studies had demonstrated that environmental exposure to cigarette smoke can weaken the immune system and promote the growth of decay-causing bacteria.
Because the enamel on baby teeth is very thin, young children should be especially vulnerable to smoke’s effects on teeth, reasoned pediatrician C. Andrew Aligne of Pediathink, a Rochester, N.Y.–based child-health research group.