Most dog owners consider their pets part of the family. We walk them, feed them, even sleep with them. But according to this study from the archive of oral biology, the one thing we should never do is kiss them.
With that innocent little peck, master and pet can exchange harmful mouth bacteria, and that can result in gum disease and tooth decay, for both.
Anthony Park from Layton said, "There's a man and a son with a dog, taking a picture and the dog was licking them. I thought, oh that's cute, not they're gonna get gum disease."
A significant majority of dogs suffer from periodontitis, an inflammatory disease of the mouth tissue.
Zachary Gill, from Salt Lake commented, " I'm a cat lover. I might kiss a cat. I don't know about a dog."
Last year, researchers took a look at dog owners in Japan and assessed the prevalence of ten human periodontitis related backteria in their pets.
Most strains were detected, two with extremely high frequency.
A particular oral microbe that is normally found in dogs, but not humans, was found in 16% of dog owners. those bacteria were found most in those who had close contact relationships with their dogs.
