The Dentist in Colorado Springs Tell Us 8 Fascinating Facts About the Germs That Live in Your Mouth! PART 2

This four-part article series presents some pretty interesting and, at time, disturbing facts about the tiny critters that call your mouth “home”!

Welcome back to our four-part article series on the tiny microorganisms that live in your mouth. In our previous article post, the dentists we spoke to in Colorado Springs revealed that (1) there are more bacteria in your mouth than there are people living on the plant (that’s a number in excess of 7 billion!) and (2) that over 700 different species of oral bacteria have been identified. Thankfully, most of them are incapable of making you sick, but they all contribute to the formation of plaque and acidic wastes that cause cavities and tooth decay.

Let’s continue with some more fascinating facts about the critters that call your mouth “home”!

Fascinating Fact # 3

Everyone has that annoying friend or family member who has no qualms about letting their pet cat or dog lick their fingers and face. They tend to say things like: “Oh a dog has far less germs in its mouth than humans.”

Well, that may be the case, but as much as you love your dog, you don’t want its saliva all over you! If you don’t let other people lick your face, why would you let an animal that doesn’t even brush its teeth drool on you?

A dog’s mouth isn’t any “cleaner” than a human’s.

The reality is there is no scientific foundation for the claims of that kooky aunt or friend of yours. “A cat or dog’s mouth is just as full of germs as yours is,” says a dentist in Colorado Springs. In fact, there are more than 100 different kinds of germs in dog spit that can make you sick, so think twice the next time you cuddle with Fido. Letting your dog lick your face and (ugh) mouth is NOT the most hygienic of habits and certainly won’t endear you to your girlfriend who is now expected to kiss you.

Fascinating Fact # 4

You’ve spent a good ten minutes stacking the perfect sandwich: pastrami, American cheese, pickles, avocado, tomato, mayonnaise, yellow mustard and two beautiful slices of wheat bread. You grab the plate in your right hand and your giant glass of soda in your left. Spying the TV remote on the counter you try to pick that up with your right hand as well and end up dropping your gorgeous sandwich all over the kitchen floor.

Oh well! 5 Second rule!

Hastily scooping it together, you reassemble your now decidedly less regal-looking food tower and throw caution to the wind… hello lunch! But wait...

There is no such thing as the 5-second rule.

“The five, ten or whatever second rule we all recite when we drop something we were adamant about eating is really quite arbitrary,” say dentists in Colorado Springs. “If your food hits the floor, it’s going to collect bacteria. Obviously, the longer you leave it there, the more bacteria it’ll gather. But even after one second on the floor, you’re food won’t be pristine.”

The best approach to this kind of problem is to decide, based upon your environment, just how much of a risk you’re going to take. If you drop your sandwich at home, are good about keeping your floors clean and you don’t own any pets, you’re probably not going to contract hemorrhagic fever from your kitchen floor. The streets outside your home are entirely a different matter.

No matter which way you spin it, that sandwich of yours is not worth spending a few months in the sickly death grip of Hepatitis A.

Stay Tuned for Part 3

To read more fascinating facts about the health of your teeth and gums, stay tuned for the third installment of this four-part article series, courtesy of the Colorado Springs dentist!