The Checkup: Preschoolers Have Way Too Many Cavities

• I’m going to take a second to brag about the fact that at the ripe old age of 28, I have yet to experience a cavity. To that end, I apparently owe a debt of gratitude to my mother who insisted on (and, rumor has it, paid out of pocket for) a sealant treatment I received on my molars as a kid. That the sealant is still in tact years later is a bit of a talking point with me and my dentists now, who are always shocked that it hasn’t yet chipped away—thus, saving me from a mouthful of cavities. Apparently, lots of preschooler these days haven’t been so lucky. The New York Times reported yesterday that there’s been a scary spike in the number of kids who need extensive dental work for cavities in their baby teeth—work so extensive, in fact, that it requires the kids to be knocked out with laughing gas for the dentists to get their hands dirty. The article says the rise in the number of preschoolers with cavities is the first such uptick in 40 years. A possible bright side? There could be more David After Dentist videos coming our way in the very near future.

• How would you like your kids to eat a fake, ammonia-laced “pink slime” meat product at the school cafeteria? If the government has anything to say about it, it’s happening.

• I’ll leave you on a light note. Since we’ve been all fired up about Beyonce and her breastfeeding habits this week, here’s a bit more Beyonce news: she’s apparently taking her daughter, Blue Ivy, on a yoga retreat in Tuscany—where, I’m sure, she’ll be breastfeeding in public for all the world to comment on.