As you may know, kissing has its flaws and its benefits. The question is which one is more prominent. Regardless of the outcome, people are still going to kiss because it’s a natural thing that humans do.
There are many health benefits to kissing. It creates an emotional bond between you and there person and can also serve as a stress reliever (as well as burn 12 calories per 5 seconds). Subsequently, the kissing can lead to foreplay which can lead to sex which is known to greatly enhance a persons physical and mental health. Surprisingly kissing is also good for your teeth. It increases salvia production which can slip under your plaque and remove it.
In the 1950s there was a study done with monkeys testing attachments. To sum it up, Harlow created two fake mother monkeys. One made out of metal and one made out of cotton and soft materials. The baby monkeys gravitated towards the mothers who were soft and “welcoming”. This goes to show that having affection present certainly helps people feel comfortable just as kissing releases epinephrine into your blood. However, there are some negatives to kissing.
There are many germs in everyones mouths and kissing is just going to transfer those more rapidly. There are some surprising and not so surprising issues that can arise. The surprising one is that you can get cavities from kissing. It is said that if you are kissing someone who has had a cavity has a certain amount and type of bacteria in their salvia which can cause you to get a cavity. More common are the diseases and viruses that can be spread. Simple bacteria infections such as colds and mono are prominent but kissing can also lead to herpes and hepatitis.
Now the decision is whether or not to continue kissing. In my opinion and most others, if you’re kissing the same person much less harm is going to be done because the germs transferred aren’t going to be changing so you should. The benefits of kissing are greater than the negatives which also means you should keep kissing!
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Kissing_and_your_health
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/09/05/kissing.aspx
http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2009/02/kissing-good-or-bad-for-your-h
Elizabeth, I enjoyed reading your post, and think it pertains to everyone here at Penn State because students do often hookup with each other, and their germs can spread to everyone else. The origins of kissing are highly debated, and still unclear to scientists as to why people do kiss. This article gives a base for why we do kiss as humans. Furthermore, this fantastic video goes into depth as to what kissing does, and what are its origins. It is incredibly interesting, and answers numerous questions about kissing. But like you said, the benefits of kissing outweigh the negatives, so everyone keep on kissing!