Evaluation of wooden spatula and plastic pipette methods for caries risk assessment in infants and toddlers.

Summary: Dentists need to check babies' spit to see if they might get cavities. They do this by looking for special cavity-causing bugs in the mouth. In this study, doctors tested two different ways to collect spit from 19 babies and toddlers: using a flat wooden stick (like a popsicle stick) or a plastic squeezy dropper (a pipette).

Both tools worked just as well to collect the spit and find the bugs. However, the babies were much happier and more comfortable when the doctors used the wooden stick. The plastic dropper made them upset. Because of this, doctors say the wooden stick is the best choice for checking little kids' teeth!