Your health: Few children see dentist by age 2

Study: Few children see dentist by age 2

Parents look forward to many of their child's firsts, but a new study shows a major gap when it comes to toddlers' smiles, CTV reports.

A Toronto study published in the journal Pediatrics finds fewer than 1 percent of children see a dentist by age 1. And fewer than 2 percent of toddlers make it by the age of 2.

Dentist Carla Cohn said it's affecting their health.

"Instances of cavities in very young kids is very, very high and it's increasing," said Cohn, adding that it's much easier to prevent problems than fix them.

Are mercury fillings making you sick?

A 44-year-old New York woman went years fearing she was suffering from an autoimmune disorder before she discovered it was the mercury in her silver fillings that was making her sick, the Daily Mail reports.

Doctors were at a loss when Alethea Black first started noticing a tickling in her leg and numbness in her left pinkie in 2010 - and the symptoms only got worse over the next two years.

After reading an article on the dangers of silver fillings, she had the cavity fillers removed and has been symptom-free ever since.

The article explained that silver fillings are made up of 50 percent mercury - a toxin that is then released into the body. Over time, the mercury can degrade and cause heavy metal poisoning. Black's fillings were 30 years old.

Is a clean newborn prone to get asthma?

Exposing newborn babies to germs could help prevent asthma as they grow up, research suggests, the Daily Mail reports.

The findings bolster the theory that modern obsession with hygiene and cleanliness has driven a boom in allergies and health problems.

The latest work, published in the journal Nature Medicine, may lead to bacterial treatments in which germs are intentionally fed to infants.

The scientists found that when newborn mice were exposed to allergens, they were better able to ward off asthma.