If you do not take proper care of your mouth through brushing, flossing, and seeing the dentist regularly, or if you smoke, those harmful particles can be passed along to your children.
The Dangers of Sharing a Utensil with Your Child
When trying new foods, it is common to offer a bite to your child. After all, getting them to try new foods isn't always easy. However, if you have decay in your mouth, or if you have leftover particles from smoking in your mouth, you are placing those particles directly into the mouth of your child by sharing that utensil.
Even if you use a new utensil, but you have eaten more than one bite of the food and their utensil touches the same spot, it could hurt their teeth. Granted, this will be a much slower process than sharing directly, but it can still be harmful.
As parents, we need to do what we can to keep our children healthy. One way we can do that is to make sure we keep our bad habits to ourselves. Let your child see you doing the right thing. Whether that is seeing you go to the dentist, seeing you quit smoking, or at the very least, seeing you not sharing germs with them. It will help them to be better examples to others, too.
Contact our office to see if you have anything to worry about, and keep up with their dental exams, too. It allows you both to ensure you have a healthy mouth that you can be proud to show off.