Our mouths are full of bacteria. At any time, there may be 75 to 100 different germs living in a person’s mouth. These germs can lead to tooth decay, gum disease and bad breath. To prevent all of these problems, we must brush and floss twice a day. Often we forget an step that is just as important, brushing our tongue twice daily as well.
Removing bacteria from your tongue not only prevents bad breath, but also promotes healthy teeth and gums. Although the tongue may appear flat, it actually has tiny bumps and ridges. These are great places for bacteria to hide and food to become trapped. Brushing your tongue attacks some of the highest concentrations of debris and bacteria in your mouth.
There are many products available on the market to help solve this problem. Tongue scrapers help rid the tongue of harmful bacteria that cause numerous problems. 80 to 95 percent of halitosis, chronically bad breath, is caused by bacteria build up at the back of the tongue. Tongue scrapers are oral hygiene devices that are designed to clean the bacteria build-up.
Tooth brushes are also available equipped with built-in tongue scrapers. Toothbrushes are designed more to clean teeth than the fleshy tongue. Finding a toothbrush or tongue scraper that could help you clean this are more effectively may be a great solution for the problem. The same tartar that exists on your tooth also exists on your tongue. Leaving bacteria and debris dormant for a period of time allows for rapid bacteria growth in this moist, airless environment.
Brushing your tongue is just an important step in good oral hygiene as brushing and flossing regularly. Unfortunately, if you do not brush your tongue regularly, it is quite possible that you are offending people with your bad breath as well as allowing your mouth to be on constant attack by harmful bacteria and debris. Using the bristles of a toothbrush to scrub your tongue, a toothbrush with built-in tongue scraping capabilities or a tongue scraper designed especially to clean the tongue will immediately help to solve the problem of a bacteria-filled tongue.
