Benefits of kissing

Submitted by ub on

The human oral cavity contains a number of different habitats, including the teeth, gingival sulcus, tongue, cheeks, hard and soft palates, and tonsils, which are colonized by bacteria. The oral microbiome is comprised of over 600 prevalent taxa at the species level, with distinct subsets predominating at different habitats.

What does all this information lead to and what do its findings tell us? Kissing exchanges millions of bacteria. In just seconds, a kiss transfers up to 80 million bacteria, according to a new study published in the journal Microbiome.

Partners who kiss up to nine times per day share the same communities of oral bacteria and increase their immune system, according to the study.

http://www.microbiomejournal.com/content/2/1/41

http://jb.asm.org/content/192/19/5002.full