After footballer Luis Suarez decided to bite Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in the middle of a World Cup match, the debate that followed was more concerned with the mental state of the Uruguayan striker, rather than whether Chiellini was actually injured. However, Professor Stanislav Dusko Ehrlich, has spoken to the Daily Mail about the situation, and he is at pains to point out that a bite from another human can be more damaging than it might first appear.
Professor Ehrlich, of the Dental Institute of King’s College, London, said that ‘the bite of a human can be an extremely dangerous wound.’ He explained that there are more than 700 different strains of oral bacteria and even a healthy mouth will contain between 100 and 200 strains at any one time. Prof. Ehrlich said that ‘if the bite pierces the skin, this bacteria will enter the body and has the potential to pose a serious threat.’
Plastic surgeon Philip Geary, locum consultant at Salisbury hospital, is in agreement, saying ‘People fondly expect that the human mouth is cleaner than an animals, but we have to disappoint them.’ According to Mr Geary, many people do not seek treatment for this type of injury because they are embarrassed or they assume that a human bite is not serious; most dangerous bites tend to be around the hand, due to the fact that there is very little tissue around the joints to protect the nerves and ligaments.