Tongue scrapers: Helpful or unnecessary? – Ahwatukee Foothills News

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Tongue scrapers: Helpful or unnecessary? – Ahwatukee Foothills News

We know that brushing your teeth two or three times a day and getting a dental cleaning about two times a year is extremely important to oral hygiene. We are also aware of the kind of medical complications that could arise if you don’t brush your teeth regularly. Going to the dentist every so often and getting the relevant dental services is an absolute must. What about your tongue though? You likely already brush your tongue while brushing your teeth, so it may seem a tongue scraper is an unnecessary redundancy. But do they help in ways that brushing alone cannot? We decided to contact a Private Dentistry, find a professional that has taken part of a dental assisting programs, and put this question to rest once and for all. As someone that has taken part these programs, they are well versed in the field of dentistry and are therefore able to answer our questions.

It is a very common inquiry. Children can be specially difficult to convince to do this. This question gets asked by adults with children at the pediatric dental clinic quite often. As any kids dentist will be able to verify, when it comes to children and their teeth, it can be difficult to convince them to do things even if it offers nothing but benefits to them.

Some dentists, like West end dentistry, think tongue scrapers can provide additional benefits to brushing the tongue.

“There is research out there that has shown that a tongue scraper is more effective at removing bacteria from the tongue than a toothbrush can,” she says. “Given the amount of bacteria that lives on our tongue, that’s definitely a perk worth considering.”

Research data indicates that half the bacteria in the mouth lives on and in the deep crevices of the tongue. While brushing will help alleviate some of this bacteria, a tongue scraper does it far better. “Toothbrushes may only move the bacteria from place to place, while a tongue scraper actually removes it,” said Bhatnagar.

Not only will tongue scrapers help alleviate bad breath, also known as halitosis, there are other benefits, such as an improved ability to taste food. When it comes to dental health it is also far more common to find a person is not doing enough, rather than too much, so trying this poses no major risks. New technologies continue to be developed and improved upon as time goes on as well, and such is the case with laser dentistry. Even for people that do not watch their dental health very closely, a less painful and equally effective alternative exists to help them get back to good dental health. Likewise, for those that find themselves with stained teeth, or perhaps just teeth that could have been broken or damaged in an accident, dental implants exist. They’re a very solid alternative for these and other dental ailments. Ask your dentist if they think you should consider dental implants as an option, or perhaps dentures if you feel like these could help you. The doctor will be able to determine for sure if these are viable options for you.

“A clean tongue and teeth is not layered with bacteria that could potentially impede that ability to recognize the taste of foods,” said Bhatnagar.

Also, tongue scraping helps increase that amount of saliva produced in the mouth. Because of the natural acidity of the mouth, increased saliva helps neutralize and wash away debris left in the mouth after eating.

Tongue scrapers are inexpensive and can generally be purchased at any grocery store. They’re used by starting at the back of the tongue and scraping forward using firm but not overwhelming pressure, as you don’t want to injure the tongue’s surface. Suggested use is twice per day – once in the morning and once before bedtime. Be sure to rinse the scraper after use so as not to reintroduce bacteria into the mouth.

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