Do You Clean Your Tongue?

When brushing your teeth, do you clean your tongue? It is a simple, but often skipped step that your oral health can really benefit from. Dr. Eric M Meyer, DDS of Fullerton, CA is committed to healthy mouths for all of his patients. Keep reading to learn how to clean your tongue and why it is important.

The tongue is a harbor for bacteria. With tiny, hair-like taste buds, bacteria can become trapped, leading to more plaque, more cavities, and bad breath! Just like how plaque can form a thin film over the teeth, a thin, bacterial film can also form over the tongue. You should clean your tongue each time you clean your teeth.

To clean your tongue, you only need your toothbrush. There are, however, tongue scrapers on the market where most dental supplies are sold. They are usually plastic or metal and do about the same job as a toothbrush.

Take your toothbrush or tongue scraper and place it on the back of your tongue, press down firmly and drag the toothbrush down towards the tip of your tongue. Do not press down hard; this may injure taste buds. Just press firmly. You can usually see the color of the film when you rinse your toothbrush off. Scrape your tongue a few times until it looks clean, rinsing your toothbrush or tongue scraper after each stroke.

By cleaning your tongue, you are on your way to a cleaner, healthier mouth (and fresher breath)! To schedule an appointment with Dr. Eric M Meyer, DDS of Fullerton, CA, call our office at (714) 879-7943 or visit our website, www.fullertondental.com.