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Brushing your teeth simply isn’t just enough. See those white, yellow, or various shades of green coating on your tongue? Those are bacteria made up of food particles, dead skin cells and sinus drip from the nasal cavities. All this gets trapped on the grooves and ridges of the tongue causing bad breath and may further affect your taste.
You can improve your mouth’s freshness by using a tongue cleaner. Millions of bacteria accumulate on your tongue, and simply brushing doesn’t remove all those bacteria. Just like plaque, tongue bacteria can cause bad breath, or worse, may lead to other health issues.
Tongue Cleaning Tools
There are three options to choose from. You can use a tongue scraper, brush your tongue with a regular toothbrush, or use a specially made tongue brush.
A tongue scraper is a traditional method to clean your tongue. They vary from plastic to metal.
The downside of using a regular toothbrush is that the bristles aren’t designed to clean the rough surfaces of your mouth such as your tongue. They may not do a thorough cleaning job of the tongue as much as they do to your teeth.
These brushes are specially made to clean out the crevices of the tongue. Although it is different from a traditional tongue scraper, study shows that this recent invention performs with about the same effectiveness as a traditional tongue scraper.
You can clean your tongue either before or after you brush your teeth. Your tongue is sensitive, so it’s important to be gentle and not to press too forcefully. Here are a few basic cleaning tips:
- Rinse your tongue cleaner before and after using it.
- Start cleaning at the back of your tongue and work your way forward up until the sides of your tongue.
- Rinse your mouth after cleaning.
Cleaning your tongue may be a new venture for you. Try these different methods to find what perfectly works for you. Tongue cleaners are inexpensive. They boost oral hygiene while helping prevent bad breath.