Don’t Forget about Your Tongue

You probably don’t need to be reminded of the importance of brushing and flossing your teeth, but when was the last time you were scolded for not scraping your tongue in the morning? This underappreciated dental habit is actually critical to your overall oral health and wellbeing, so it’s time to invest in a tongue scraper and listen up.

While You Sleep

You treasure your 8 hours of sleep every night, but it turns out that your digestive system doesn’t actually switch off while you snooze. Instead, your digestive system is hard at work removing toxins from your body. Many of these toxins are filtered out with your waste, but a surprising amount is actually deposited onto the surface of your tongue.

The Importance of Tongue Scraping

This means that when you wake up in the morning you have food debris, fungi, toxins, dead cells, and bacteria on the surface of your tongue. Yuck! Brushing and flossing is important for loosening debris from the teeth and gums, but tongue scraping is actually the most efficient way to remove all of the bacteria from your mouth.

If you need more convincing, research indicates that nearly half of oral bacteria lives on the tongue. By scraping your tongue each day, you are able to collect these “toxic tongue coatings” and remove them from your mouth so that they don’t do any more damage.

Benefits of Tongue Scraping

Until you scrape your tongue regularly for a few days, you won’t have any way to realize just how much your tongue sludge is limiting your health and quality of life. First of all, regular tongue scraping can eliminate bad breath, called halitosis, so that you no longer feel the need to avoid face-to-face conversation with your coworkers. You’ll even boost your immunity since a clean tongue won’t contribute to toxins being reabsorbed into your body.

If you’re ready to obtain a new level of oral health, invest in a long, thin, flat, “U” shaped scraper and work it from back to front with one firm, long motion. Repeat five to 10 times and then go enjoy your clean mouth!

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Dr. Obrochta

D.D.S., P.A. at Obrochta Center for Dental Health

Dr. Obrochta is a specialist in the art and science of Cosmetic Dentistry. He currently belongs to the American Dental Association, the West Coast Dental Association, the Pinellas County Dental Association, and is a founding member in the prestigious American Academy of Cos-metic Dentistry. He is an active member in numerous study clubs featuring state of the art techniques and materials in delivering advanced cosmetic care.

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