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Is a Dog's Mouth Cleaner Than a Human's?

livescience.com — Here ’s the myth that makes dogs sound like a dental miracle: Despite all the leftover macaroni, rubber bands and dead squirrels they chew, our canine friends still maintain better oral hygiene than human beings do, no matter how studiously we floss and how often we visit our dentists.

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  • ALyken, on 04/23/2008, -10/+2I've always wondered why my dog won't let me him, now I know.
    • peterjmag, on 04/23/2008, -1/+6Eat?
    • haydesigner, on 04/23/2008, -0/+15"let me **** him"?

      I'm guessing that missing word starts with either a "K" or an "F"...
    • weirdalexis, on 04/23/2008, -1/+5let me in?

      (ok that's disgusting)
    • Matt174e, on 04/23/2008, -0/+4I hate mad libs.
    • ALyken, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1should be KISS him, it was an honest mistake and was just a joke. Oh yeah, just remembered, when you sign up for digg you're meant to leave your sense of humour at the door.
      (Sorry about the mistake!)
  • Tomboys, on 04/23/2008, -4/+11Now I'll can feel okay when my dog gives me a big wet kiss after eating another dogs doo doo.
    • flameboy, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1heh... you should probably read the article, bud.
  • alchemist27, on 04/23/2008, -4/+1cbf reading.

    can someone give me a quick answer?
  • schizogony, on 04/23/2008, -2/+12Mythbusters proved this like three years ago.
  • mattiP, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2Dog breath stinks though, so I'll still be avoiding the wet kisses, good hygiene or not.
  • Dylson, on 04/23/2008, -1/+11I bet if I ate my own crap and sniffed asses on a regular basis I would have better oral hygiene.
    • ronk, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2Actually, if you brush your teeth twice a day and rinse your mouth after you eat stuff you will have better teeth than the average individual..
  • YahtzeeG, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3In short... "its like comparing apples to oranges"
  • matarij, on 04/23/2008, -2/+0Well I know I wouldn't let a dog blow me. Or a street whore.
    So no, it isn't. Why do you ask?
  • lacreme, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2yeah, dog breath tells me otherwise
  • amdforever, on 04/23/2008, -3/+3Dogs don't do oral sex...
  • icepick314, on 04/23/2008, -0/+4maybe we all should try them Milkbone biscuits instead of brushing and flossing.
  • Berkana, on 04/23/2008, -3/+4I don't know about other breeds, but sometimes, Labrador retrievers eat their own feces to re-digest it in an attempt to extract more nutrients from the food the second time around. Thank goodness they can't really chew; imagine what molars would look/smell like after a meal of dog *****.
    • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2You're sort of correct. What it means is that their food isn't giving them enough nutrients the first time they ate it. In otherwords... cheap dog food passes through them before they can fully digest.
  • anabanana, on 04/23/2008, -0/+17Is it just me who actually read the article and saw that it's really saying this isn't true?...
  • anshuman, on 04/23/2008, -2/+1you mean even after licking balls and sniffing behinds? is it still cleaner??? common??? what did you smoke today??
  • bbandito, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2You mean you read the articles, I'm too busy pretending I'm a popular Digg-ian and hammering those Digg buttons to actually read any of this stuff.
  • Oea420, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3Humans have generally healthy, self-cleaning teeth if they dont ingest a bunch of negative things. If your diet is free from a lot of sugars and acids, teeth are actually pretty sturdy.

    The reason people have so many teeth problems these days are most foods are loaded with sugar and acid. I'm sure if your dog was drinking some coca cola before he went to sleep, he'd have some pretty gnarly teeth after awhile.

    Plus you have to take into account lifespan, humans have teeth designed for a much smaller lifespan than what we currently live.


    Plus, with all of this oral hygeine going on, there's really no selective pressure for stronger teeth.
  • CyberInferno, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3Buried for misleading subtitle. If people would actually RTFA after this grabbing introduction paragraph, it continues with:
    "Could this really be true?
    Well, sadly, no."
  • JasonCox, on 04/23/2008, -2/+2Did they just discover Mythbusters or something?
  • mohsenxp, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1hmm ddnt really want to read about a dog's mouth, but i did anyway! the internet is a weird thing.
  • 3leggedHorse, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1 So licking your ass keeps your mouth cleaner.
  • Zaggynl, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Duh, they smell for a reason.
  • gkiltz, on 04/23/2008, -0/+0Sometimes!
    I brush my dog's teeth with swallowable dog toothpaste, and a child's toot brush. Their normal body temperature is warmer than ours, about 102 degrees F Fewer bacteria thrive at that temperature, and their digestive enzymes break down things ours can't.
    If you take proper care of them, it should really be cleaner than yours1
    • diggitydoc, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1could you at least read the ***** article before you make yourself sound like an ass?
      FTA: Could this really be true?

      Well, sadly, no. In short, a dog’s mouth is besieged by its own legions of germs, roughly as huge in population as those living in the human mouth and causing a similar array of dental illnesses.

      nice story though...
  • ChinezePanda, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2I dont lick my ass or suck my own dick while sitting in dirt in my front yard somewhere.

    So... I refuse to believe it. I mean..

    I ALSO BRUSH MY TEETH AND USE LISTERINE!

    • PlagueOfMorons, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1We have only YOUR word on this...
  • jimjoke, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1My dog eats its poop.
  • trollick, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1My dog is a big cat crap connoisseur. So, the answer is NO.
  • rebo2, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1I actually tested this theory. I prepared 2 plates of agar jell, allowed my dog to lick one, and I licked the other to the same extent. I put wrap over the specimens, and allowed the bacteria to grow.
    Result: Dog's lick had MUCH more bacteria.
    Thanks.
  • kelmaster1, on 04/23/2008, -1/+0It's the saliva, dog saliva has better cleaning bacteria than ours. Our saliva works pretty well, but surprisingly people didn't even know that if you have good saliva genetics, you practically don't need to brush at all given that:
    1.) you eat healthy whole foods and very little sugar
    2.) Keep your mouth shut when sleeping (this is a big plaque builder, since your saliva dries up)
    3.) Stay hydrated
    4.) Have good saliva
    Using sodium-fluoride works like any drug, your body becomes used to it being used and therefore lowers the natural cavity fighters in your saliva.

    Dogs have tons of saliva, which has stronger (good) bacteria than ours.
    • flameboy, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1wtf? Try reading the article.
    • diggitydoc, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1nice one retard. "surprisingly i didn't even read this article before i commented on it"
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