Tongue Cleaning As Bad Breath Cure For Better Oral Health
August 7th, 2008
Did you know that person can often get rid of bad breath by cleaning their tongue more thoroughly? Studies suggest that brushing and flossing should be accompanied by tongue cleaning in order to achieve a truly cleansed oral cavity.
Brushing teeth reduces mouth odor by 25%
Tongue cleaning reduces mouth odor by 75%
Cleaning the tongue and brushing teeth together will reduce mouth odor by 85%
Have you ever noticed that sometimes you have a white tongue? A white tongue is something that nobody wants to have. Why? A white tongue not only looks abnormal, but if left untreated, it’s a strong indication of a bad breath problem.
Tongue cleaning is necessary, in addition to brushing and flossing in the morning before bed tea and also after dinner before retiring to bed, for a thorough dislodging of the plaque and mucus.
The surface of the tongue is one of the main breeding grounds for bacteria that attack teeth and gums. The front part of your tongue is usually self-cleansing. But the back of your tongue can also be difficult to clean and must be cleaned to get rid of bacterias and bad breath.
Tongue cleaning is clinically proven to the single most effective way to reduce bad breath. Though, tongue cleaning alone does not kill the bacteria that cause bad breath that are breeding below the surface of a white tongue. It simply removes the gunk on the surface. This gunk (mucus and food debris) is a food source for anaerobic bacteria, the cause of a white tongue.
Tongue Cleaning With Toothbrush
To brush your tongue, simply apply light pressure with a clean toothbrush to the entire surface of the tongue. The stuff you are trying to remove is most concentrated at the back of the tongue, so you may experience a gag reflex at first until you get used to incorporating this practice into your toilette.
As a way of improving the effectiveness of your tongue cleaning with toothbrush you can use a toothpaste that provides neutralize volatile sulfur compounds and have antibacterial properties.
Tongue Cleaning With Dental Floss
To scrape your tongue with dental floss, take a good length of floss (about a foot or so) and wrap each end around your middle fingers. Apply downward pressure with your index fingers, stick out your tongue, and drag the floss from the back of the tongue to the front several times. You might want to keep the water running so that you may rinse off the floss in between scrapings.
Tongue Scraper
A tongue scraper is often effective in relieving oral malodor caused by sinus drainage. Tongue scrapers are available in most drugstores; fancier ones can be ordered online, usually from merchants who specialize in either Ayurvedic goods or oral hygiene products.
Tongue scraper’s idea is similar to scraping with dental floss, but it’s design allows for the proper cleaning of the entire surface of the tongue, especially the very back of the tongue, where the majority of foul odor-causing bacteria and decaying food particles are lodged.
Use a tongue scraper to remove the remaining white coating from your tongue. Place the tongue scraper on your tongue as far back as you can without gagging.
Practice to brush and clean your tongue in the morning and evenings. Generate this habit as a traditional gift for better hygiene and health to your loved ones.
Tongue Piercing Care and Cleaning
To keep a tongue piercing free from infection the first thing one should not do is rinse his or her mouth out with any type of listerine. This can cause irritation and discoloration to the piercing. Never clean the piercing with hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol, this can cause serious injury. Salt water is also an effective rinse.
You have to clean the plaque of your tongue ring on a regular basis. I just take my tooth brush and actually brush my tongue ring while I’m brushing my teeth. Also try mouthwash. I use it after I eat anything and I have never had a smelly tongue ring and I never change my ring. Michel
Tongue scraping is a process that the majority of people in the United States don’t do on a daily basis. Yet it’s one of the most important steps you can take to keep your breath clean and fresh!
You might also like these related dental health articles
- Best Bad Breath Mouthwash, Will It Cure Halitosis?
- Natural Cure for Bad Breath, Halitosis
- Bad Breath Causes and How to Get Rid of Bad Breath
- Bacteria That Contribute To Bad Breath
- Causes of Bad Breath and Halitosis Cure
Categories: Oral Hygiene
Good tips. A fair amount of people are unaware of the importance they should place on brushing their tongue. It requires very little additional effort, so everyone should be doing it.
ermm u shld use listerine ORIGINAL as a mouth wash! wen u ave a tongue piercing
Sometimes I have a white tongue although I often brush it. Do you know why I alway have that the white and how to remove it?
Dear Becky,
Brushing won’t totally remove all foreign material. If the conditions are ripe, regrowth can be rapid. There are many possible causes. Please see a specialist if sufficiently concerned.
Hi, I brush, floss and mouthwash regularly. I also realise the importace of cleaning your tongue. On the back of my tooth brush, there is a bumpy rubber bit which I think is a built in tongue scraper. I live in the UK and I can’t find any propper tongue scrapers in chemists. Is it ok for me to just use the scraper on the back of my tooth brush? Thanks