Reason 1: When brushing your teeth people often forget it’s also just as important to brush your tongue. When you eat and drink, little particles of bacteria stay on your tongue just like your teeth. So your tongue needs the same care to maintain great dental hygiene. By not brushing your tongue is almost like not brushing your teeth at all, so you can see how crucial your tongue is to your oral health. A layer of bacteria forms in your mouth after you eat or drink anything causing you to have bad breath. You may think just using mouthwash instead of brushing your tongue will have the same results, it doesn’t. If you wake up with “morning breath” or have a thin white layer on your tongue, but you brush, floss, and use mouthwash on a daily basis you should see your dentist as soon as possible because you may have something more serious like periodontal disease or tooth decay rather than just bad breath.
Reason 2: When you have a layer of bacteria on your tongue it blocks your taste bud receptors causing you to not taste as well as you should. So yes, by cleaning your tongue your food will taste so much better!
Reason 3: Brushing helps your immune system. The bacteria left on your tongue from not brushing can go directly to your stomach causing you to get sick. Think about when you wake up in the morning, sometimes you have a “weird” taste in your mouth. Now, think about after eating your breakfast sometimes you may feel a little sick. Well, this could be from the bacteria from your tongue going down to your stomach with the food you’re eating. This could also lead to an upset stomach or even a stomach ulcer. This is just another reason why it is very important to keep your tongue clean from harmful bacterial.
Now you’re probably thinking what is the proper way to brush your tongue? It’s pretty simple; brush side to side, back and forth, and then finish with rinsing with water. Tip: Make sure you don’t over brush or brush too hard on your tongue because it could break the skin. Another important tip is to buy a toothbrush with a tongue cleaner on the back of the toothbrush. Dentist’s recommend this because the brush is specifically used for your teeth, not the tongue, but if you don’t have a tongue cleaner on your brush you could use your toothbrush until you get a tongue cleaner. Just be sure to clean your toothbrush thoroughly to get the bacteria off. If you are not a fan of the toothbrush with a tongue cleaner you could find inexpensive tongue scrapers at most drug stores.
If you have any questions please feel free to call us at 215-568-6222 and schedule an appointment with our great doctors who can answer all your questions and get you back to being happy and healthy.