This week’s tip from the professionals at Olympia Hills Family Dental has to do with the tongue. This underappreciated muscle deserves some respect, so let’s start by learning more about it with a True or False test.
Tongue Trivia Test:
1. The tongue is a single muscle: True or False
2. Tongues are as unique as finger prints: True or False
3. All our taste buds are located on our tongues: True or False
4. Taste Buds grow and change: True or False
5. The tongue heals faster than any other body part: True or False
6. Our gums harbor more bacteria than our tongues: True or False
7. Tongues are responsible for 90% of bad breath: True or False
Answers:
1. False: The tongue is technically comprised of 8 muscles that act together to offer us a wide range of motion. Bonus trivia…our tongue is the only muscle(s) that is attached at only one end.
2. True: No other tongue on the planet looks exactly like yours.
3. False: The majority of our taste buds are on our tongue but not all of them. Taste buds are also located on the inside of our cheeks, under our tongues and on the roof of our mouths.
4. True: Taste buds regenerate every 10 to 14 days. Our taste buds also evolve over our lives on what taste good. Infants are born with a natural preference for sweet. It’s the body’s way of protecting us against eating things that could harm us. As we mature, so do our taste buds allowing us to enjoy a broader variety of food.
5. True: I know it doesn’t feel like it when you have a cut on your tongue and you are trying to eat; but our tongues do heal faster.
6. False: The papillae on our tongue house our taste buds and help break down our food when we chew. Unfortunately, papillae are also good for something else, harboring bacteria. 85% of all the bacteria in our mouths can be found on our tongues.
7. True: Those papillae we talked about that harbor bacteria also hold on to odor. 90% of bad breath comes from the tongue.
Questions #6 & 7 lead us to this week’s tip: Brush your tongue. Sounds simple enough but when it gets left out of our oral hygiene routine, it makes a big difference. So make sure to give your tongue some brush time. If you suffer from chronic halitosis (persistent bad breath), consider using a tongue scraper. This small curved plastic tool isn’t near as scary as it sounds and can be purchased at any drug store. Simply pull the scraper over the length of your tongue to remove bacteria the toothbrush bristles can’t reach.
Don’t ever be embarrassed to discuss halitosis with the professionals at Olympia Hills Family Dental. We are here to help you. You can learn more about the causes of bad breath and be sure to check in with us next week as we continue our countdown.
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#10 – When to Change Out Your Toothbrush
# 9 – “To Seal or Not To Seal, Is That Really A Question?”
# 8 – Teeth Whitening: Relationship Advice You Can Use
#7 – These are some really BRIGHT tips
# 6 – Brush Your Tongue