Human bites are one of the most dangerous animal bites in the world.

Even among those who brush and floss every day, the human mouth isn’t exactly clean. It contains about 700 different kinds of microbes, including bacteria and fungi, some of which are helpful — but not so helpful that you’d ever want to be bitten by another person. Human bites are in fact even more dangerous than other animal bites, as they’re more likely to become infected as a result of that bacteria. Maybe all those zombie movies are onto something.

A dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s.

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This oft-repeated statement is little more than a popular misconception, most likely stemming from the fact that dogs lick their own wounds.

Health care providers treat roughly 250,000 human bites each year, around 10% of which result in an infection among children, who are more likely to be bitten than adults (usually by another child). Humans account for only 3% of all bites seen in emergency rooms, however. Dog bites are by far the most common, followed by those of cats, while bites from smaller animals such as mice, rabbits, and hamsters are more rare.

If any creature has put its teeth on you and broken the skin, you’re advised to seek medical treatment regardless of how cute the offending animal was — better safe than sorry.

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