I kid you not....

FRIDAY, Aug. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Women with dental cavities who
deliver their babies by Caesarean section should pay close attention to
their babies' dental health later on, a new study suggests.

Researchers from New York University found that a cavity-causing
bacterium that grows on tooth surfaces appeared much earlier in babies
delivered by C-section than in those delivered vaginally. The study
evaluated 156 mother-infant pairs.

"We are the first to report that there is a link between C-sections and
the acquisition of cavity-causing bacteria in the baby," said Dr.
Yihong Li, an associate professor of basic science and craniofacial
biology at the New York University College of Dentistry.

Li, who is lead author of the study, added that the researchers did not
study whether the babies delivered by C-section actually got more
cavities later, but only that they had more cavity-causing bacterium
earlier.

The study appears in the September issue of the Journal of Dental
Research.

The reason for the findings? Li suspects that vaginally delivered
infants, because of exposure to a greater variety and intensity of
bacteria from their mothers and the surrounding environment at birth,
develop more resistance to the cavity-causing germ than do C-section
babies, who have less bacterial exposure at birth.

The women in the study were mostly black women from an inner-city area
of Birmingham, Ala. In all, 127 of the women had vaginal deliveries and
29 had C-sections. Their mean age was approximately 21 years, and about
75 percent of the women had cavities. Li and her team then started
collecting saliva and plaque samples from the babies to evaluate them
for bacterium.

The bacterium, Streptococcus mutans, was detected in 55 of the 156
infants, on average at 22.3 months of age. But the C-section infants
acquired the germ at 17.1 months of age, compared to 28.8 for the
vaginally delivered babies.

Dr. Edmond Hewlett, an associate professor of dentistry at the
University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry and a
consumer advisor for the American Dental Association, called the study
sound.

"What's new here is the association between the time of infection with
bacteria that cause cavities and the type of delivery," he said. It has
been known that the primary route of infection for cavity-causing
bacteria is mother to infant, he said.

Even so, the new study findings "shouldn't affect the decision for
women to have a C-section," Hewlett added.

The take-home message for mothers, Li said, is this: "If the mother has
very poor oral health, she really needs to pay attention to her [baby's
oral health] if she delivers C-section."

"Don't share spoons with your baby," Hewlett tells mothers, especially
those who have cavities. "Chewing gum with Xylitol in it after eating
is a good way to clear the mouth of bacteria."