Brushing your teeth and flossing regularly is a great start, but it could leave you facing other issues if you are neglecting other parts of your mouth. Your tongue is known for harboring bacteria that can leave you with halitosis, also known as bad breath. Time to cover the finer arts of tongue cleaning.
Tongue Cleaning
If you are not brushing your tongue each time you are brushing your teeth, you may be leaving your mouth open to bacterial growth despite your conscious efforts to keep your mouth clean. Here is a breakdown of what you want to do each time you clean your tongue.
Brushing Your Tongue Leaves You with Fresher Breath
The first thing you need to do is just put a tiny dab of your favorite toothpaste on your toothbrush and wet it slightly. From there, you should begin by brushing the back portion of your tongue. You should use sweeping motions towards your front teeth, and not go so far back on your tongue that you make yourself gag.
Keep moving forwards in small increments, making sure to get all of the film off your tongue as you go. Once you get to the tip of your tongue, make sure you sweep up the sides of your tongue, towards your front teeth. Rinse your brush frequently. After all of your brushing is complete thoroughly rinse your mouth out to get anything that may be left behind.
Taking the few minutes a day that brushing your tongue would take leaves you with nice, fresh breath, and it helps you to keep your mouth healthier than if you were to forget brushing your tongue. Your dentist will appreciate the extra effort, as this simple procedure also helps to keep your teeth in better shape, as it gets more of the damage-causing bacteria out of your mouth and away from your teeth.
Tongue Cleaning Using a Tongue Scraper
A tongue scraper is a curved plastic or metal device used to do just as its name implies. It removes a buildup of food debris, dead cells and bacteria. using the edge of the device. People who have a coated tongue caused by dry mouth, poor oral hygiene or medications will benefit from scraping.
One additional benefit from cleaning your tongue is that food tastes better as taste buds are exposed. We provide tongue scrapers to our patients who are interested in adding this ritual to their daily dental hygiene program.
Contact our office if you have any questions about cleaning your tongue.