Do you brush twice a day? And, do you use dental floss regularly? Do you still complain of poor dental hygiene, cavities, inflamed gums, or bad breath? Well, the reason could be your tongue! You don’t hear this much but your tongue needs regular cleaning too. Why you may ask.
Below, we’ve listed a few reasons why you need to brush your tongue.
The tongue has the largest surface area to host bacteria. Even if you brush twice a day and use dental floss regularly, the bacteria from your tongue may transfer into your freshly cleansed teeth and hamper your dental hygiene. You might not know but the tongue has the most bacteria-covered spots in our body.
Not only does a tongue have taste buds but also grooves all kinds of little structures where bacteria can hide unless removed physically.
Dental bacteria contain a biofilm that is impossible to remove by just rinsing! Thus, if you think using a mouthwash or mouth rinse will help clean your tongue then you are mistaken. Mouth rinses or gargles cannot help in removing the bacteria on your tongue since it clings to a sticky film (called the biofilm). Thus, it is advisable that you brush and clean your tongue carefully to remove them to ensure proper oral hygiene.
The science is simple, no matter how well you brush your teeth, bacteria and small food particles that build up on your tongue may reach your teeth and gums which may lead to tooth decay, inflamed gums when the gums pull away from the teeth, and the space in-between becomes infected hampering oral hygiene. This may be the reason your teeth fall out.
And if this isn’t treated on time, it may progress to severe periodontal diseases. Thus, brushing your tongue can prevent potential problems of the oral cavity such as tooth decay and periodontal disease.
One of the main reasons for halitosis or bad breath is the presence of bacteria on the tongue. If you brush your tongue regularly, it can help remove such harmful bacteria. This results in a fresher breath and a healthy oral cavity along with optimum dental hygiene.
Did you know that the tiny bumps on your tongue, also known as papillae, get stained due to the consumption of tea, coffee, soda, etc? This leads to the formation of black, hair-like stains on the surface of the tongue. Well, now you know!
We’re sure that right now, you probably want to grab your toothbrush and go give your tongue a good amount of much-needed cleansing.
But are you wondering how do you correctly clean your tongue? Well, we’ve got you covered.
Read along to find out the various ways you can clean your tongue.
You don’t need any fancy or expensive tool for cleaning your tongue. Just brush your tongue by following short side-to-side and back-and-forth strokes and later rinse with water. You can do this while you are brushing your teeth, or even after brushing your teeth.This ensures almost perfect oral hygiene.
These tongue scrapers are designed to remove bacteria by scraping the topmost mucous layer on your tongue. They are easily available at medical or general stores and are pretty inexpensive.
Advice: Be careful not to over brush or excessively scrap your tongue. Be gentle, you don’t want to break the skin!
Now that you know the importance of brushing and regularly cleaning your tongue, we hope you include this in your daily brushing regimen and let others know the importance of the same.