Should You Use a Tongue Scraper?

Posted on 9/7/2020 by Angie Hopper

Looking for a quick, easy, yet effective new practice to help improve your oral hygiene? Perhaps you should look into new ways to maintain a clean tongue. Tongue scraping is a fast, easy way to rid your tongue of particles that detract from your oral health. The cleansing action of tongue scraping can help fight bad breath, remove harmful bacteria, and improve your overall oral health.
Nonetheless, you need to avoid nursing unrealistic expectations about the effectiveness of tongue scraping. For starters, you shouldn't expect to replace regular brushing and flossing with tongue scraping effectively. Here's all you need to know about incorporating tongue scraping into a healthy oral habit.

The Advantages of Tongue Scraping

Tongue scraping can help you dislodge food particles, bacteria, and dead cells from your tongue quickly and effectively. If allowed to fester, these buildups can give rise to various dental problems like bad breath, tooth infection, etc.

With a tongue scraper, you can keep your tongue looking clean and fresh at all times by easily removing the buildup of debris and dead cells that give the tongue a dirty appearance. Tongue scraping can also enhance the sensitivity of your taste buds, improving your sense of taste. You can also use tongue scrapers to eject bacteria that cause bad breath.

The Disadvantages of Tongue Scraping

Consistency is the key to the benefits of tongue scraping. If you're not prepared to stick to the practice consistently, you'll not be able to achieve optimal results with tongue scraping. And while you're at it, you also need to be cautious of over-stimulating the gag reflex, which could induce vomiting.

You might also run a slight risk of cutting or bruising the surface of your tongue with a tongue scraper. To avoid this, you always need to ensure that the edges of the tongue scraper are smooth and even, and to apply the scraping strokes gently.

If you still can't overcome tongue buildup and its attendant nuisances with tongue scraping, brushing, and flossing, you can call our office to get expert recommendations on how best to tackle these problems.

Bells Office

(731) 663-9999

7019 US-412
Bells, TN 38006

Hours:
Mon: 11am - 6pm
Tue: 8am - 5pm
Wed: 9am - 5pm
Thu: 7am - 2pm
Fri: By appt
Sat & Sun: Closed

Jackson Office

(731) 300-3000

80 Exeter Rd
Jackson, TN 38305

Hours:
Mon: 7am - 7pm
Tue: 7am - 7pm
Wed: 9am - 5pm
Thu: 7am - 2pm
Fri: 8am - 3pm
Sat & Sun: Closed

Milan Office

(731) 613-2800

14029 S 1st St
Milan, TN 38358

Hours:
Mon: 11am - 6pm
Tue: 8am - 5pm
Wed: 9am - 5pm
Thu: 7am - 2pm
Fri: By appt
Sat & Sun: Closed

Lexington Office

Opening June 10th.

689 W. Church St.
Lexington,TN 38351

About | Premier Dental Center - Bells, Jackson, & Milan, TN
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