French kissing is a pretty big deal, as people have continued to search for tips on how to perfect the technique.
However, those looking to take on any french kissing tips may be shocked and disappointed to know that couples who French kiss share millions of bacteria, according to the results of a new research done by scientists in the Netherlands.
The study, which is published in the American scientific journal Microbiome, reportedly looked at 21 couples and measured how many microbes they exchange, according to CBS News.
"In a single kiss of ten seconds, 80 million bacteria are transferred - on average - from one person to the other," stated Remco Kort, principal scientist with Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research who collaborated with Amsterdam's Micropsia Museum for the study.
For the recent study, the couples reportedly filled out questionnaires about their past kissing habits, including the frequency of their French kisses, according to the NY Daily News. Half of each pair was also reportedly instructed to drink a kind of probiotic yogurt that contained specific bacteria.
They then reportedly gave their partners an "intimate kiss," which resulted in the transferring of millions of bacteria. Couples that kissed at least nine times a day were reportedly more likely to share similar communities of oral bacteria as well.
"Intimate kissing involving full tongue contact and saliva exchange appears to be a courtship behavior unique to humans and is common in over 90% of known cultures," state Kort in a release.
He added, "We wanted to find out the extent to which partners share their oral microbiota, and it turns out, the more a couple kiss, the more similar they are."
Despite this transference of bacteria, French kissing doesn't necessarily have to be eliminated from one's relationship. The mouth reportedly hosts more than 700 kinds of bacteria, according to the Micropia Museum.
Researchers reportedly stated that the germs are normal and a part of a healthy bacteria mix that lives in the human mouth, helps the body function and can help prevent disease.
