Are dog's mouths REALLY cleaner than humans? I mean, they eat poop AND lick themselves AND OTHER mutts!?

Answer 1

Dear Reader:

The way I heard it when I was a kid was that a dog's mouth is actually sterile. I can even recall someone in my neighborhood attempting to "prove" this to anybody who'd sit still for it by letting his dog lick the inside of his mouth — not an especially conclusive demonstration, but memorable just the same

I believed what I was told at the time in spite of contradictory evidence at hand, namely that people often become quite ill and even die from dog bites. If a dog's mouth is sterile, how could it transmit rabies, tetanus, pasteurella or any of the other types of infection associated with dog bites?

But I digress. The precise question was: Is a dog's mouth cleaner than a human's? The answer to that is no, too, and basically for the reasons you've cited. As we all know, dogs aren't particularly fussy about where they put their tongues or what goes into their mouths.

"A dog's mouth contains a lot of bacteria," says Dr. Gary "Ask the Vet" Clemons. "Remember, a dog's tongue is not only his wash cloth but also his toilet paper."

Not only accurate, but delicately put!

So, where did the notion that a dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's come from? Doctors, evidently. It has long been noted in the medical literature that human bites are more likely to become infected than those of other mammals, including dogs. Statistics to that effect were published in journals and repeated by medical professionals, and folk wisdom took off from there.

Bites vs. closed-fist injuries

Lately, however, the accuracy of those statistics has come under attack, with critics objecting that some of the human "bites" compared to animal bites in earlier studies weren't really bites at all. A 1988 review published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine found the following:

Recent study of human bites has shown that the early literature depicting all human bites as having an extraordinarily high infection and complication rate was biased by its emphasis on human bites of the hand that presented late with infection already present. These bites, the so-called closed-fist injuries (CFI), do indeed have a poor prognosis, but it may be as much due to their location and initial neglect as to the source of the injury. Human bites elsewhere do not seem to have any higher risk than animal bites, which have an infection rate of about 10%

Answer 2

All dogs lick themselves. Some eat their own feces. People (most of 'em, anyway) don't. So how in the world can the mouth of a canine be cleaner than that of a person? Simple -- it are not able to. In step with ABC news, that is sincerely an urban legend. Nevertheless, not like the one in regards to the psycho killer with the hook, this story has a grain of fact. Even though the mouth of a typical dog is filled with bacteria, it can be "species specified." So, if a dog had been to lick a person, many of the germs wouldn't transfer. "backside line -- you're extra more likely to get a serious sickness from kissing a individual than kissing a canine." the myth will have stemmed from the way in which pups lick their wounds. A dog's tongue removes useless tissue so wounds heal turbo. Perhaps persons concluded that dog saliva is "healthful." infrequently the case, however you just isn't petrified of licks. They probably gross, but they're not

Answer 3

Dogs mouths have less bacteria in them than people's do, but what this refers to is that most of the bacteria that are in a dogs mouth are not infectious to people. So being licked by a dog doesn't expose you to germs that will make you sick. Well there are a few, but not as many as if a human licked you.

Answer 4

Well, I don't let my dogs lick my face, but I'd trust their mouths before that of any stranger walking down the street. Let's just put it this way... Any germs in their mouths are already in my home, and the chances are, I'm already immune to them. We have four dogs and three kids. My kids are *never* sick. The last bout of the flu (or anything else) that went around here was four years ago. And we don't get flu shots... I'd catch it in an instant if I went around kissing people... *heh*

Answer 5

No a dogs mouth is full of harmful bacteria. All you have to to is ask yourself why a tetanus shot is needed when you have a dog bite.

However, a dogs tongue is the best thing for a DOG if it's injured itself - thats where the confusion lies.

Answer 6

hell no.. wth.. dogs cant brush their teeth unless the owner brush them.. lolz, but human always brush their teeth at least twice a day.. and humans eat CLEANER food than dogs.. so yah.. there's no way dog's mouth are cleaner than human's... hmm.. sometimes i wonder why people sometimes kiss their pets like dogs or cats.. that's very very gross.. can u imagine.. trANsfering full of bacterias into ur mouth.. iewwwwwwwwwwwwww

Answer 7

the argument they initally used for this was the fact that we as humans eat many things that when you break it down can be considered spoiled and full of bacteria such as cheese. But we also clean our teeth after eating to kill the bacterium. So they used a poor argument which was lopsided.

Answer 8

No it is not true and they fianlly did a news story on it . So don't go kissing your dog. Their are very nasty germs they contantly lick up! EwWW

Woud you want to kiss another human that did that? so why kiss your dog.

Answer 9

I disareed with the first answer...Dogs mouths are cleaner than ours and they have something in their saliva for healing...
Clowmy

Answer 10

no not at all but the condition is not that worse if the dog is provided with chews n regular brushing.
gud luck take care