While most people agree that brushing and flossing are essential to daily oral hygiene routines, another essential step in oral health is often overlooked. Tongue cleaning is a great way to improve your dental health and freshen your breath and has many benefits to your oral health!
Tongue Cleaning Benefits
While some of the benefits of tongue cleaning are well-known—like dealing with bad breath—there are many other benefits you may not have ever considered! Here are five key benefits of regular tongue cleaning:
Reduce Oral Bacteria and Debris
Just as bacteria and food debris can live on your teeth and gums, it also can build up on your tongue. Tongue cleaning is an effective way to remove dead skin cells, sugars, and bacteria from your mouth. This reduced bacterial growth can also decrease your chances of developing cavities or other oral health problems.
Improves Breath
If you’re researching fresh breath tips, tongue cleaning is at the top of most lists! Cleaning your tongue controls bad breath by getting rid of food and skin cell remnants that cause unpleasant odors in your mouth.
Removes Tongue Coating
Have you ever noticed a white or even yellow coloring on your tongue? Does your tongue feel textured rather than smooth? This textured discoloration is visible build-up from bacteria and dead skin cells, and it can easily be removed with proper tongue cleaning! After scraping or brushing off this tongue coating, your tongue should feel more smooth and have its normal pink coloration.
Heightens Sense of Taste
Cleaning your tongue twice daily alongside your regular oral hygiene routine may even improve your sense of taste. This is because tongue cleaning removes build-up from your tongue that can affect your tongue’s ability to distinguish between bitter, sweet, salty, and sour tastes.
Strengthens Digestion
The digestive process begins in your mouth, where your teeth and saliva work together to break down foods before sending them through the rest of your digestive system. Cleaning your tongue stimulates saliva production, making for a healthier and more digestion-ready mouth!
Best Tongue Cleaning Techniques
Cleaning your tongue is not the same as brushing your teeth, and doing it improperly can irritate your tongue or even damage it. Here are a couple of tongue-cleaning techniques that, when performed together, make for fresh breath and a smooth, pink tongue!
1. Use a Tongue Scraper or Soft-bristled Toothbrush
The first step in your tongue cleaning routine is to remove the build-up of bacteria, dead skin cells, and food debris. You can do this with a tongue scraper, a soft-bristled toothbrush, or with the back of your toothbrush if it has a textured rubber backing for tongue cleaning purposes.
Cleaning with a Tongue Scraper
- Open your mouth and stick out your tongue.
- Position the curved end of the scraper at the back* of your tongue so it arches over top.
- Touch the scraper lightly to your tongue and slowly pull it forward to the tip of your tongue. Never work backward—always go from the back of your tongue to the tip!
- Repeat this process 1-2 more times until you’ve cleaned the entire surface of your tongue.
- Rinse the tongue scraper with soap and warm water and store in a dry location.
Cleaning with a Toothbrush
- Use either a soft-bristled toothbrush or a toothbrush backing designed for tongue cleaning.
- Put a small amount of toothpaste on your toothbrush.
- Start at the back of your tongue and work your way forward, brushing back and forth with gentle but firm pressure. (If you have a sensitive gag reflex, scrape or brush from the middle of your tongue. As you get used to cleaning your tongue, you can try from farther back.)
- Rinse the toothbrush and store it in a dry location.
2. Rinse with Mouthwash
After scraping or brushing your tongue, rinse with a mouthwash to eliminate any remaining bacteria on your tongue, teeth, and gums. Mouthwash on its own may not be able to dislodge all of the build-up on your tongue, so you should always start with scraping or brushing!
Need a Dentist? Come Visit Us at Rhoades Family Dentistry!
If you live in the Kansas City area and have any questions about oral hygiene routines or are due for a professional cleaning, we’d love to take care of you! Contact us or scroll up and select “Book an Appointment” in the top left corner to schedule your first visit.
