# Rotting carcass in My Teeth

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rotting-carcass-in-my-teeth/338658>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 5, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rotting-carcass-in-my-teeth/338658 "2006-01-05T23:17:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sharkattack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@sharkattack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sharkattack)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rotting-carcass-in-my-teeth/338658/1 "2006-01-05T23:17:25Z")

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Is it possible to get food poisoning from a piece of meat stuck in the teeth?

And if so, has there ever been a reported case of someone dying from this?

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**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rotting-carcass-in-my-teeth/338658/2 "2006-01-05T23:40:06Z")

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The amount of food that can get stuck between two of your teeth is probably too small even to cause an upset stomach, much less food poisoning. It’s more likely to cause tooth decay if it happens repeatedly.

No cite; just my WAG.

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**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rotting-carcass-in-my-teeth/338658/3 "2006-01-06T03:08:32Z")

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Provided the food was cooked and handled properly: no.

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**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rotting-carcass-in-my-teeth/338658/4 "2006-01-06T04:13:01Z")

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The enzymes in your saliva begin the digestion process. The bacteria that cause food poisoning wouldn’t be able to grow in your mouth as the enzymes are already at work breaking down the protein in the meat.