Did you know kissing helps prevent tooth decay? Read why and 9 other fun facts about kissing
There’s so much more to know about kissing than just puckering up. Here are 10 fun facts about one of the most intimate, sensual and fun things you can do with your significant other.
1. The longest kiss lasted for more than 58 hours. Ekkachai Tiranarat and Laksana Tiranarat from Thailand locked lips for 58 hours, 35 minutes, and 58 seconds in 2013, beating nine couples to win the Guinness World Record for longest kiss.
2. The science of kissing is called philematology. What exactly do they study? They don’t only focus on the biology of kissing but also explore the many reasons why we kiss.
3. The most popular non-kissing kisses in the world, the Eskimo kiss, didn’t start because they feared their mouths would be frozen together as commonly believed. Due to the extreme cold, Eskimos would only have their eyes and noses exposed, which forced them to invent their own method of displaying affection
4. A 10 minute kissing session can transmit up to 80 million bacteria between partners.
5. Two-thirds of people tilt their heads the same way when going in for a kiss. Neuroscientist Onur Güntürkün people-watched for about two-and-a-half years and found most people turn their head to the right than to the left.
6. The first on-screen lip lock in history happened in 1896. Thomas Edison, the famed inventor of the electric light bulb and the phonograph filmed and screened The Kiss, a 23-second film featuring public kissing which was taboo at the time.
7. Kissing helps prevent tooth decay. The anticipation of kiss increase the flow of saliva to the mouth, which helps clean out food particles in the mouth and protect tooth enamel.
8. The term “French kiss” was originally a slur on the French culture when introduced around 1923. In France, it’s called a tongue kiss or soul kiss because it’s meant to feel as if two souls are merging.
9. Kissing requires the coordination of 146 muscles total, including 34 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles.
10. A famous study by Dr. Arthur Szabo in the 1960s found men who received a peck on the lips by their wives before work lives around five years longer, make 20 to 30 per cent more money and are involved in fewer car crashes. It seems these men went to work with a more positive attitude which in turn made them physically and mentally healthier.