After eating and drinking, bacteria naturally forms inside the mouth, but most of it lands on the tongue. If you’ve been wondering about the origination of bad breath, it is from your tongue for this reason. Bacteria can also remain on your tongue if you brush your teeth too hard.
One of the recommendations to reduce bad breath is tongue scraping. You may or may not have heard of the concept by your dentist, and if its something that’s not part of your oral routine today, it is recommended that you adopt it now.
Why Tongue Scraping?
Apart from the obvious benefit of reducing bad breath, tongue scraping offers even more benefits.
Decreases Plaque
Bacteria can combine with plaque to attack your tooth enamel. Eventually, if you don’t keep your tongue clean or brush your teeth properly, dental plaque will form itself into tartar. Tartar coats the outside of your teeth and invades the gumline. This can cause discolouration and you’ll try to brush your teeth too hard. This is also the wrong thing to do as this may promote tooth decay. Scraping the tongue is a great way to keep plaque levels low.
Better Taste
If your taste buds are covered with plaque, you won’t be able to taste all of the wonderful flavours in your food. Keeping your tongue clean can help you maintain a strong taste of your food because doing this will keep plaque build-up levels low.
Boosts Digestion
When your taste buds are blocked due to mucus and bacteria on the tongue, it impairs the enzymes that are needed for digestion of your food. Enzymes within the saliva break down food for better digestion. Not only will you not taste your food if your tongue is full of harmful bacteria and mucus, the slower your digestion.
Maintains A Natural Tongue Colour
You want your tongue to remain healthy, and its natural pink colour will indicate signs of it. You can inspect your tongue yourself in the mirror to determine if it’s clean or full of bacteria. Scraping the tongue will instantly restore its natural tongue colour, which is also a confidence booster.
Tongue scraping is an essential part of strong oral hygiene. The tongue is the unfortunate part of your mouth that holds all kinds of bacteria, and it is important that you’re aware that a clean tongue reduces any chance of adverse oral health conditions that can eventually prove to be consequential for healthy teeth and gums. You should consult the dentist for advice on how to tongue scrape.
Are you seeking further advice on your toothbrush? Check yourself in with our dentists at Quakers Hill today for an appointment. Click here to book yourself in today.