microorganisms in dogs and humans

[swetha]

saw this program on the tv...there was this experiment conducted on the number of micro organisms present in the mouth of a dog and a human
it showed tat the human had more m.o
y is it so?
what is present in the dogs saliva thats inhibiting bacterial growth?
cud it also b because of the diet?

 

[Maddad]

You have something like 50,000 microrganisms living in every cell in your body. They've lived there so long that you can no longer live without them. You could not think a thought, read this sentence, without them. Be glad that mitochondria are part of your life.

 

[Fraggle Rocker]

there was this experiment conducted on the number of micro organisms present in the mouth of a dog and a human. it showed tat the human had more m.o. y is it so? what is present in the dogs saliva thats inhibiting bacterial growth? cud it also b because of the diet?

Dog saliva is very acidic. It has nothing to do with diet. Domestic dogs eat every conceivable diet ranging from the exact same food their human companions eat, to scientifically formulated "perfect" dog nutrition, to garbage. Their saliva is all the same. The only time the bacteria level increase is when they eat feces or the intestines of their kill. This is something they do naturally because their own intestines are not long enough for food to ferment and sustain the culture they need to thoroughly digest food. So they get it by eating feces. Yogurt will do the same thing. If you get a dog's mouth right after he's been cleaning up the back yard, his bacteria count will be pretty high.

 

[spidergoat]

There is something in dog saliva that helps heal wounds, I've heard of it before, but I'm not sure exactly what it is.

 

[Fraggle Rocker]

It's just the low pH. The acid tends to kill most bacteria. It doesn't heal wounds so much as inhibit infection so the would can heal itself.