Shaping the oral microbiota through intimate kissing
Kort R, Caspers M, van de Graaf A, et al. · Microbiome 2014
Experimental (human) · Open access
Key finding
A ten-second kiss transferred around 80 million bacteria between partners.
In plain language
A small, careful, widely quoted study measuring direct bacterial transfer between people. Physical closeness moves microbes in measurable quantities.
How much weight this carries
Real evidence exists, but it is early, limited, or not yet replicated widely.
Cite or read it
Kort R, Caspers M, van de Graaf A, et al. (2014). Shaping the oral microbiota through intimate kissing. Microbiome. https://doi.org/10.1186/2049-2618-2-41