The other day a friend of friend’s Instagram photo on facebook captured my attention. Not certain which filter she used but for some reason her tongue and her lime green eye shadow looked like the same colour. It’s just not right and made me rather glad I’d started scraping my tongue. Dentists have been supporting tongue scraping for the last 50 years, although much more emphasis has been focused on flossing, tongue scraping does show a decrease in halitosis (bad breath) and tooth decay.
The gunk that you’ll scrape off your tongue is pretty gross until you remember that until today you’ve been hosting this bacteria on your tongue. You can either buy a soft flexible plastic tongue scraper or use your toothbrush. If you are using a tongue scraper two or three scrapes should do it. If you use your toothbrush, brush gently but firmly brush the entire tongue – this should only add 10-20 seconds to your dental hygiene routine.
Who will benefit most from tongue scraping? If you are a smoker or enjoy strong flavoured foods or have halitosis tongue scraping is very beneficial. Tongue scraping is also a good practice for people with perio problems. The tongue can harbour bacteria associated with gingivitis and gum disease. The average person will probably find, much like a great cleaning from the dentist, a newly scraped tongue feels wonderfully clean.
So is tongue scraping for you? That’s up to you, but it’s definitely an easy way to extend your dental health.
