MizLiz wrote:
Ah, good. Then I'm not the only one. Phew!

I don't know if it's a sensory thing for me or if I'm secretly worried that I'm not good at it (I think I'm okay, meh... don't really care). It must be sensory because it just seems like such a weird and gross thing for people to do. You're really going to smash lips and tongues together? But... all that bacteria...
Liz,
I cannot speak for you, but, as for myself, I believe it to be sensory in nature. I don't like being touched much and even feel uncomfortable and cagey if I am in public and people are milling about within a few feet of me. I think my desire for sexual contact is basically my sex drive trumping my dislike for touching.
I find the thought of standard "French" kissing to be rather repulsive both in a sensory sense and in a hygenic sense, as you already stated. To do so is to invite foreign bacteria and rotting food particles from another person's mouth into my own and on top of that, the saliva is wet and slimy. I cannot fathom the appeal of such an act.
There are other forms of sexual expression that I do find appealing, but that is for another time and another place...