14 DAY TRIAL // Couples who are in the habit of locking lips at least 9 times a day – so, basically, nearly all the couples in the world – have similar bacteria populations in their mouth. This is because, during a 10-second smooching session, tens of millions of bacteria are transferred from one individual to another.
Mind you, this is nothing to worry about. As explained by researchers in the Netherlands, your average Joe or Jane carries about 100 trillion microorganisms in their bodies. This might sound really icky, but the fact of the matter is that these microorganisms are quite useful.
In a nutshell, they help us digest the food that we eat, synthesize various nutrients and even stave off all sorts of diseases. What this means is that, without them, we would have serious trouble staying healthy and, most importantly, alive.
How one kiss can make a world of a difference
Writing in the journal Microbiome, the scientists behind this research project explain that, as shown by previous investigations, the human mouth is home to over 700 different types of bacteria that live in on our tongue and in our saliva.
According to evidence at hand, couples who like to spend a heck lot of time smooching have strikingly similar communities of oral bacteria. As explained by study lead author Remco Kort, “The more a couple kiss, the more similar they are.”
Having carried out a series of experiments with the help of 21 couples who volunteered to help with this investigation, scientist Remco Kort and fellow researchers found that, during a 10 second kiss, as many as 80 million bacteria can be transferred from one individual to another.
The specialists argue that this explains why it is that, in time, couples end up having roughly the same communities of oral bacteria. What's interesting is that, by the looks of it, it's bacteria living in human saliva that more often than not get transferred during a kiss.
A shared lifestyle, dietary and personal care habits also contribute to a couple's tendency to have similar oral bacteria populations. This is because the microorganisms living in our mouth are influenced by what we eat and what toothpaste or mouthwash we use, Science Daily explains.
Do we really need to study kissing?
Pretty much everybody knows this, but just to be thorough, let's put it out there: smooching is a courtship behavior that we humans alone display. What's interesting is that, apparently, not all people kiss. In fact, this behavior is common in about 90% of the world's cultures.
Despite the fact that kissing has been around for millennia now, scientists are yet to figure out exactly why it is that we enjoy smooching as much as we do. Hence, they are now busy studying this behavior hoping to gain a better understanding of what makes us tick.
“Intimate kissing involving full tongue contact and saliva exchange appears to be a courtship behavior unique to humans and is common in over 90% of known cultures,” study lead author Remco Kort said in a statement.
“Interestingly, the current explanations for the function of intimate kissing in humans include an important role for the microbiota present in the oral cavity, although to our knowledge, the exact effects of intimate kissing on the oral microbiota have never been studied,” the scientist went on to comment on the importance of this study.
