Are dogs mouths cleaner than Humans?

Answer 1

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 already 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," notes 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.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/dogs/a/dog_breath.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IBX/is_2003_Feb-March/ai_97515424

Answer 2

Have you ever heard of the show "Mythbusters" on the Discovery Channel? They are highly trained special effects people that go around taking myths that people send them and proving them as myth confirmed or myth busted - or plausible sometimes.

About a year ago they did a show on this exact myth, regarding a 5-second rule about food being dropped on the floor. They checked a dog's mouth and one of the Mythbusters named Adam - and Adam lost! The dog had less bacteria than the human - but that could also be good or bad bacteria as they didn't test which was what, just that the dog had less.

So it's MYTH CONFIRMED - Dogs are cleaner than Humans when it comes to the saliva in their mouth.

Answer 3

They did that test on Mythbusters when they were doing the '5 second rule' (if it hits the ground for less than 5 seconds it was okay to eat.. not true)
Adam and some dog did the test and the dogs saliva has less bacteria... but like Adam there are good and bad bacteria in everyone's mouth its just the way we were made.

Answer 4

This is a common misconception, but the answer is certainly no. Not only do they fail to exercise good dental hygeine, but they tend to use their mouths to dig in trash cans, drink from toilets, and sample poop from other dogs. Am not sure how the old-wives tale about them having clean mouths got started, but science and commom sense both say otherwise.

Regards

Answer 5

Yea... I think I read somewhere that humans have the most bacteria infested mouths. I know that dogs have very clean mouths... hints why they lick their wounds and so on. Also if you have a dog bite its a clean cut.

Totally random but there was this one CSI where the lady killed people with dog cause they have clean mouths and she could get there organs unharmed lol.

ok random... hope I helped some

Answer 6

The dog's mouth isn't acutally cleaner then a humans. It just has more enzymes in their saliva to break down more bacterias. It does not mean that they are necesarilly that much cleaner.

Answer 7

yes dogs mouths are cleaner than humans even though it doesnt seem like is cause dogs eat things off the ground and their throwup and poop. and we brush our teeth everyday. but dogs are cleaner . i dont know how

Answer 8

Yes! Believe it or not, they are! It may seem unlikely, but the truth is, dogs mouths are cleaner than ours!

Answer 9

Nope, we just can transmit germs from us to our dogs or vice versa. This is part of an urban myth where a dog's slyvia can cure wounds, mostly the constant licking can clean there hurts and help them heal more properly.

Also by brushing or getting your pets teeth clean can help this, and some enzynamtic dog treats clean there mouths from germs like our Listerine or that new Crest mouth washes, and there are even additives on the market now for that you add to there water.

Answer 10

I REALLY don't think so! One of my corgi's eats his own poop. He also enjoys gobbling up road-kill. BLEH!! He's a really strong dog, though.

Even though that seems real nasty, they also have bacteria in their mouths that can heal wounds, in some cases. I read this in a book called "Puppy Miracles".

EDIT: OH GOOD LORD! I just read those few other posts. That's pretty weird. I have the sudden urge to go brush my teeth..