Do Dogs's mouths contain less pathogens than humans's mouths?

Question

I hear dog people saying all the time that this true, esp. when they let a dog lick their faces.

Answer 1

There was a segment about this on an episode of Mythbusters. They swabbed a dog's mouth, and Adam Savage's mouth. The cultures grew overnight, and the dog's mouth had less bacteria, by a marked difference. There is only one fault in this- the sample population was much too small, and therefore a generalization cannot be made solely on these results.

Answer 2

Yes and no-
a dog's mouth does not actually contain fewer germs than a human's
However, the types of germs in their mouths are different from those in ours, and not as likely to cause harm to a human
Bottom line- you are more likely to get a serious disease from kissing a human than a dog

Answer 3

Dog people can't talk yet. They have learned to do some basic sign language, but scientists aren't sure if they are merely memorizing signs and repeating them for rewards or if they actually understand what they are saying! They can't master grammar, that's for sure!

Hope this was helpful.

Answer 4

I highly doubt it, since they lick themselves clean, dig through trash, eat things off of ground, etc.

Answer 5

I doubt it considering they eat dead things, eat cow and horse crap and lick their butts.