Tongue cleaning is another good dental habit to incorporate into your daily hygiene routine. While brushing your teeth at least twice a day and flossing at least once a day is the general recommendation, our tongue often gets neglected, but it too can use some daily care.
In an article we wrote earlier about “bad breath” or halitosis, we mentioned one of the causes is the different types of bacteria in our mouths. Approximately 85% of those bacteria can cause bad breath and 50% of that bacteria accounts for the bacteria on our tongues1. So by simply cleaning our tongues on a daily basis we can eliminate this potential problem altogether.
Just brushing your tongue may not be enough. I would suggest also scraping your tongue once a day rather than just brushing it. While brushing the tongue is a fair way to deal with the bacteria, scraping is actually superior and can eliminate up to 30% more bacteria than brushing. Tooth brushes are basically designed for cleaning the hard structures of the teeth and are somewhat unsuited for cleaning the soft tissues of the tongue which demand something a little more rigid to be effective.
Tongue scrapers are pretty inexpensive and there are a variety of different designs. The majority look like small tennis rackets that are used to scrape over your tongue. Brush versions are also available with a wider head and shorter bristles. Some toothbrushes even have a tongue brush version on the back of the toothbrush head. Any version can be effective; your personal preference is the key.
The point is, for better all-around oral hygiene, incorporate tongue scraping into your daily routine.
Works Cited
1 – Pedrazzi, V., S. Sato, G. De MattosMda, E. H. Lara, and H. Panzeri. “Tongue-cleaning Methods: A Comparative Clinical Trial Employing a Toothbrush and a Tongue Scraper.” Editorial.J Periodontol July 2004: 1009-012. National Center for Biotechnology Information.U.S. National Library of Medicine.Web. 29 Nov. 2012.
