How to Take Care of Your Tongue
We all have been told over and over
again how important it is to brush
and floss your teeth, and even how using mouthwash is great for destroying
germs. One thing that isn’t emphasized enough is how to take care of our tongue,
leaving questions such as, “is my tongue getting clean with just mouthwash?”
and “does my tongue need to be cleaned separately?” The tongue is one of the
strongest muscles in the body relative to size, and helps us speak, eat and
drink throughout our entire lives. We think that deserves some recognition and
that our tongue deserves to be cleaned and taken care of properly. Visiting the
Dentist
San Francisco Mina Levi DDS can be helpful with getting familiar with the proper
tongue cleaning
techniques and routines. Below we discuss the nature of the tongue and how
to properly clean it.
Understanding the
Tongue
The tongue is a
mysterious, wriggly muscle that lives in our mouths and although we use our
tongues every day almost constantly, many people don’t know much about the
tongue. The tongue is covered with papillae and taste buds (receptors for
taste), which allow it to be the primary organ of taste and helps us manipulate
food for eating. The tongue is very sensitive since it is supplied immensely
with nerves and blood vessels, which is why it is so painful when we
accidentally bite down on it. Not only is the tongue used for eating, but it also
functions in creating sounds and words. For example if you hold your tongue
between your fingers and try to complete a sentence, you will notice that not
only can you not produce the words and sounds that you want to, but also your
tongue will contract and fight against your fingers slightly to try to make the
correct sounds. Another very important function of the tongue is a natural
toothbrush. The saliva that keeps the tongue moist has antibodies and proteins
that clean up the bacteria in the mouth, and the tongue can manipulate itself
into many positions and areas in the mouth which allows it to detect and remove
bits of food that are left over from our last meal.
The tongue has what is
called a “tongue map”, which shows that different areas of the tongue are more
sensitive to different tastes. Contrary to popular belief, these areas of the
tongue are not completely secluded to one particular taste, but different areas
of the tongue have different thresholds for sensitivity to particular tastes.
The tip of the tongue (4) is known for the sweet taste and the sides of the
tongue toward the tip (3) are known for the salty taste. The sides of the
tongue toward the back of the tongue (2) are known for the sour taste and the
back area of the tongue (1) is known for the bitter taste.
The papillae and taste buds in the tongue are
very sensitive and are what help us taste food at all. However, if the tongue
is not cleaned properly, build up can cover up endings of the taste buds and
dull the sensitivity, making it more difficult for the tongue to taste foods. Also,
an unclean tongue can cause very bad breath and allow more bacteria to linger
in the mouth, leading to other problems such as plaque
build-up on the teeth and cavities. But, how are we supposed to clean the
tongue? Here are a few good tips:
1.
Get a tongue-cleaning device. These tongue-cleaning
devices usually have a handle similar to a toothbrush but the tip is a triangle
or oval shape with a large hole in the center, similar to an enlarged, widened
eye-hole of a needle. You can find these devices at grocery stores and online,
or you can get one through the Dentist San
Francisco Mina Levi DDS. Some toothbrushes have a textured back designed
for scrubbing of the tongue, but this doesn’t work as well as getting a
separate tongue scraper.
2.
Scraping the tongue. In the morning before
eating or drinking anything, take the tongue-cleaning
device and place it on the surface of the tongue towards the back. Then firmly
but gently press the tip of the device and then “drag” the tip from the back of
the tongue to the front. The residue you’ve cleaned off of your tongue will
build up on the device, so you will need to rinse it off after each scraping. Repeat
this process multiple times until the entire tongue has been scraped with the
device.
3.
Rinse. After the tongue
scraping is completed and you have cleaned off your tongue-cleaning
tool, rinse your mouth thoroughly with mouthwash. This will wash away any of
the build-up that still remains in the mouth, and will also clean away bacteria
in the rest of the mouth.
4.
Repeat! The most important
part of cleaning your tongue is to continue to clean it and make it part of
your every day routine.
5.
Cleaning Your Tongue
Scraper. Once
every two weeks, soak your tongue-cleaning
device in denture cleaner or a hydrogen peroxide-water solution to ensure that
it remains sanitary.
For
more information about the tongue cleaning process or how it affects your overall
oral health, visit the Dentist San
Francisco Mina Levi DDS on the web at www.minalevidds.com
or give us a call at (415) 513-5066.
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