why do some pple say that dogs mouth is cleaner than ours?

Answer 1

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%
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/dogs/a/dog_breath.htm

Answer 2

A dog's mouth contains a lot of bacteria. A dog's tongue is not only his wash cloth but also his toilet paper.

Back when they did the study it was compared to infections caused by a dog bite vs human bite. Now they criticize that study because it was found that the reason human bites usually caused more infections was because people tended to ignore them for longer. When someone got bit by a dog they sought medical help sooner.

It is now known that a dogs mouth is NOT cleaner then a humans. (some humans have some pretty dirty mouths) Humans usually clean and brush their teeth thus keeping the bacteria level down.

Answer 3

I've seen it proved throught science. Dogs mouths are cleaner than humans, because dogs basically have a self-cleaning mouth. There is something (i'm not sure if its a chemical or what) that cleans the bacteria out of their mouth.

Answer 4

Because it is. They may lick some odd places, but so do we, if you think about it and we carry more germs than they do in our bodies. Cats on the other had, OMG!! Think of it this way, when a dog breaks your skin, you rarely get an infection however, when anything else does, it will get infected within hours without proper treatment. Sorry, but it is true. DOGS RULE!!

Answer 5

Look at the 'Crap' that humans eat (Q: What is a human? A: Delicious and nutritious!) and the tooth decay that most people experience... My dog's mouth is sparkling with a hint of minty freshness! But I don't kiss her... No French kissing anyway...

Answer 6

Dogs have less bacteria in their mouths than humans. It was tested and found to be true

Answer 7

Because it is...I saw it on Mythbusters. Gross, huh? Think how dirty our mouths must be if they're dirtier than dogs that sit there and lick themselves!!!

Answer 8

becasue they do...they produce an enzyme that makes their mouths cleaner...

Answer 9

I think they did some tests and compared the bacterial level and stuff...

Answer 10

it is. The mythbusters on the discovery channel proved it.