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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Politics
Matthew Cantor

A TikTok dentist says cavities are contagious – is the viral claim true?

TikTok Houston
Woman having teeth examined at dental clinic.
Experts have been aware of the transmissibility of tooth decay since at least the 1970s, according to Dr John Featherstone. Photograph: Dan Grytsku/Alamy

Next time you’re considering a passionate embrace, you might want to consult your partner’s dental records.

A Houston dentist is confronting TikTok with a brutal truth: you can get cavities from kissing the wrong person. “Thinking about the kiss I gave my husband even though he has cavities,” Dr Tasneem Mahmood writes in her video, captioned: “And that’s on cavities being contagious.” The clip has been viewed more than a million times.

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