We noticed something similar with our kids—my oldest had zero issues, but my youngest seemed to get cavities just from looking at juice sideways, lol. Makes me wonder if birth order or genetics really do factor in more than we think...?
"Makes me wonder if birth order or genetics really do factor in more than we think...?"
I've wondered the same thing! Growing up, my sister and I had totally different experiences at the dentist. She brushed religiously, flossed daily, and still ended up with cavities every year. Meanwhile, I was way less careful (oops) but somehow dodged cavities until adulthood. Our dentist mentioned genetics might play a bigger role than most people realize. So yeah, you're definitely onto something there...
I've noticed something similar in my family too. My brother was always super careful about dental hygiene, but he still ended up with more cavities than me, and I was pretty lazy about brushing as a kid (not proud of it, haha). Makes me wonder if diet or even saliva chemistry might play a bigger role than we realize. Has anyone else heard dentists talk about saliva acidity or something like that affecting tooth decay? Seems like there's more to it than just brushing habits...
Yeah, you're onto something there. My dentist mentioned saliva acidity once—apparently it can really affect enamel strength and cavity risk. So even someone brushing regularly might struggle more if their saliva's naturally acidic... kinda unfair, but makes sense.
Yeah, saliva acidity definitely plays a role, but honestly, from my experience with my own kids, bottle decay seems to have more to do with exposure time than anything else. My youngest had issues despite us being super careful about brushing—turns out it was because she'd fall asleep with the bottle in her mouth. Dentist explained that milk pooling around the teeth overnight is basically a recipe for cavities, regardless of saliva acidity. Once we stopped letting her sleep with the bottle, things improved dramatically.
I'm not saying acidity isn't important—it totally is—but sometimes it's easy to overlook simpler factors like how long sugary liquids sit on teeth. It's frustrating because you think you're doing everything right...and then you realize something small like bedtime habits can make all the difference.
