Oral Health Risks Of Black Mold In Your Home

For many families, preventing cavities can be a huge challenge, especially for children who have excessive sweet tooths. Encouraging them to brush and floss each day, limiting their sweets intake, and making sure they visit their dentist regularly are some of the best methods we have to help protect children’s teeth from harmful diseases. However, even with the recommendations to brush and floss, sometimes cavities happen, and it’s considered quite normal by many dentists when treating children’s teeth. Cavities are always considered a pest by dentist’s standards, and for eliminating these cavities, we only have the available treatments at our disposal to treat them. 

But when it comes to looking at the causes of cavities, most dentists have to rely on research to be able to understand what effectively causes this pesky form of decay to develop. We understand its biology to an extent, but when looking at potential factors, some dentists have been talking about mold infestations in homes as a potential cause for the increase in cavities. We’re here to look at what’s said about mold infestation, how it may contribute to cavities, and what you can do to protect your child’s teeth further. 

How Mold May Be The Cause Of Your Child’s Cavities

Many researchers are still exploring the various factors that can cause cavities. For some, one potential factor is mold. Mold grows in warm, humid, and moist environments throughout homes. It can grow in attics, basements, wall insulations and can grow in places you’d least expect. It can even grow in daily appliances such as kitchen cabinets and baby bottles. Mold is a species of fungi that, when in the right conditions, releases mycotoxins, or spores, into the air to spread and continue reproducing. 

But for your family, these spores can present a huge problem. For many families, the symptoms of a mold infestation come subtly, causing sneezing, coughing, and wheezing. These spores have the ability to infect the nasal areas and reach into the lungs, causing these extensive breathing problems long-term. Mold infestations can be absolutely harmful and dangerous to your family’s health, and in the case of your family’s oral health, it can lead to dry mouth. 

Why Treating Dry Mouth Early Matters

Dry mouth has the ability to cause many oral health problems later on, especially if it persists for long periods without treatment. While there isn’t much evidence currently about the connection between mold infestations and cavities, dry mouth does have research behind it that links it to cavities. Dry mouth is a crucial problem to pay attention to because it can cause many other oral health issues to occur, including: 

• Cavities
• Gum Disease
• Halitosis
• Mouth Ulcers
• Enamel Erosion
• Tooth Sensitivity

Because of the problems that come with dry mouth, it may be a good idea to check throughout your home for signs of a mold infestation. If your home has mold, follow the CDC’s guidelines for protecting your family from mold infestations, and make sure to have your family visit an ENT doctor and dentist for any treatments you may need to protect your family’s health.