Cleaning Your Tongue

When it comes to oral hygiene, you may be pretty conscientious when it comes to brushing and flossing. But are you taking care of your tongue? Think about it for a moment: you are responsible for up to 10,000 taste buds, and eight muscles just in your tongue! Not to mention that your tongue can help you speak about 90 words in a minute, if you had to. But the tongue is also made up of a series of grooves that provide great homes for millions of bacteria, which cause bad breath. So, you owe it yourself and your tongue to give it a good cleaning

You can use your toothbrush as a tongue cleaner. You start by scrubbing at the back of your tongue and work your way forward. Don’t just clean the top of your tongue, but the sides as well. But remember that your toothbrush is designed to clean the relatively smooth surfaces of your teeth. Your tongue has a different texture than your teeth, and you also need to be able to clean the grooves of your tongue. A tongue brush will do a better job of cleaning your tongue, and you should follow the same process as you would with a toothbrush. A tongue cleaner on the other hand is a piece of plastic or metal designed to clean your tongue. Again, start at the back of your tongue and pull it slowly forward, cleaning the top and the sides of your tongue. Rinse it well when you are finished.

Brushing, flossing and cleaning your tongue will help prevent bad breath, allow you to better enjoy food, and give you a healthy mouth. Of course, you need to see your dentist every six months for a thorough cleaning of your teeth and a checkup. If you have questions about taking care of your tongue, or if it is just time for your regular appointment, you can call [practice_name] in [city], [state], at [phone] to schedule an appointment with our dentist, Dr. [doctor_name].