Have you ever wondered what lies in a kiss? Research suggests that kissing may have wider evolutionary implications than romantic and social implications.
Since early development Hominid proximity and physical touch have important social and medical implications. Bonobos, prairie dogs, and even Cardiocondyla elegans ants kiss.
“The discovery that members of most species exchange kisses suggests that this facilitates the exchange of information needed to navigate social group interactions,” Dr. Tim Wright of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wrote in an editorial.
Kissing and sharing food suggests intimacy. In addition, cortisol levels in human saliva rise with excitement, and animal studies show that saliva serves as a signal for choosing a social-sexual partner. Despite cultural and social differences, interpersonal physical touch is socially important throughout the world.
Recent research has explored the mechanisms by which children learn how the people around them feel about each other. The researchers assessed how infants and young children make inferences about the nature of relationships, such as relationships with relatives.
Within the framework of the study, these relationships were called “strong”, which were characterized by a strong level of affection, mutual responsiveness and commitment. The results of the study showed that infants and toddlers come to the conclusion that people who share saliva, share food, or kiss are in a “close” relationship.
The fact that diseases are transmitted through close social contacts between people was known even before the discovery of disease-causing pathogens. The restriction of physical contact in close relationships may have been driven by the need to minimize transmission of the disease. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven this point, as many people have limited their contact to a tight network of family and friends.
Oral Health Effects of Kissing Infants and Toddlers
A 1960 oral health study found that hamsters deprived of the oral microbiota did not develop cavities, even when exposed to carbohydrates. The results of the study also showed that when animals were immunized with streptococcal species from human carious lesions and fed sugar water, they developed caries and oral bacteria could be transmitted from animal to animal. This study helped to conclude that caries is an infectious and vector-borne disease.
Since the 1960s, millions of dollars have been spent on caries research. Various approaches to caries vaccine development and attempts to prevent vertical transmission of mutant streptococci have been considered. Oral hygiene recommendations are regularly voiced to prevent transmission of the oral microbiota between caregivers and infants. Recommendations include not sharing food with babies and not kissing them on the lips.
Children initially inherit most of their microbiota from their biological mothers and their caregivers, including the oral microbiota. As their social and environmental contacts develop, they are exposed to new exposures and their microbiota changes.
Research is ongoing to better understand the human microbiome.
“Our knowledge of the human microbiome, how it is transmitted and digested, and the many complex interactions and relationships between humans and our microbial neighbors, remains rudimentary,” writes Wright.
Is it safe to share food with babies and toddlers and kiss them? The answer to this question is not so simple. Pathogens and diseases can be spread through close physical contact and the exchange of fluids such as saliva. Newborns with immature immune systems must be protected, as infections can be fatal. Diseases such as mononucleosis can be transmitted through saliva by deep kissing, and mononucleosis is thought to be potentially transmitted to children by sharing food and sharing utensils.
There is no clear evidence that sharing utensils and eating together leads to the spread of infections leading to cavities. Caries is associated with the consumption of fermentable carbohydrates and oral dysbiosis. It is not spread by the transmission of specific microbes, as is the case with other infectious diseases. Parents who kiss their children help build a strong relationship with their child and send important psychosocial signals of attachment.
“We know that consumption of refined carbohydrates is associated with the development of tooth decay, so perhaps a kiss, rather than sugar and candy, makes relationships healthier and happier,” Wright concluded.