Why You Should Clean Your Tongue

Most people know that keeping your pearly whites clean is a crucial part of keeping your teeth and oral health in excellent shape. You are probably aware that failing to keep your teeth and gums clean could make you more susceptible to tooth decay and gum disease. In fact, we usually recommend setting up an appointment with our dental team once every six months to have your teeth cleaned a lot more thoroughly. Still, do you ever wonder if cleaning or brushing your tongue is also important?

In general, you don’t really need to clean your tongue as long as you keep your teeth and gums healthy. Although, your tongue can actually harbor bad bacteria, yet since your tongue is usually covered in saliva, it can clean itself fairly well. The bacteria from your tongue could move to your back teeth, so brushing your tongue can help you prevent this problem. This isn’t a huge issue since it takes about twenty-four hours for plaque to actually form. In other words, as long as you are brushing twice a day, bacteria that moves from your tongue to your back teeth won’t cause serious dental issues.

Still, there are many different benefits to brushing your tongue. Brushing your tongue could improve your breath, but some people can struggle to brush their tongues with a toothbrush as it can trigger your gag reflex. Tongue scrapers are a great option you can consider doing. Tongue scrapers, as you may have already guessed, are designed to help you keep your tongue clean without triggering your gag reflex. To use a tongue scraper, all you have to do is put the head of your tongue scraper against the back of your tongue and pull it forward.

If you would like to learn more about the perfect tongue scraper in Burlington, Massachusetts, we invite you to contact Advanced Dental Care at 781-272-2875. Our dentist, Dr. Christopher McGonigle, and our dental team will gladly assess your teeth and address any of your questions. We look forward to meeting with you!