It’s time to put an end to a stubborn misconception that brushing your tongue isn’t a good idea. First, it won’t stop you from having bad breath. Worse, you risk disrupting your oral balance.
Everyone knows that it is necessary to brush your teeth two to three times a day to avoid the formation of caries and the bad breath. Some, good students of oral hygiene, are even zealous in brushing their tongues. But that’s not really a good idea.
The tongue is self-cleaning
First of all, the tongue doesn’t need us to clean itself, it does it very well on its own. Indeed, a healthy tongue cleans itself thanks to saliva, which we then swallow between a thousand and two thousand times a day. Note that it is possible to brush your tongue, especially when you lack saliva. Because of an illness or taking a drug for example.
When a mouth lacks saliva, the tongue is covered with a whitish material. You can then remove it. But gently! Fans of tongue brushing, or more precisely tongue “scraping”, since it is the most appropriate term, act out of hygiene, that’s for sure. Toothbrush brands have claimed for years in their ads that the tongue is a breeding ground for bacteria. It’s true, but some of it is useful!
We must not eradicate the good bacteria
First, these bacteria are not primarily responsible for the bad breath, it is the dental plaques that are (90%). In addition, no less than 700 species of bacteria swarm the oral cavity, and mainly on the tongue. Some are dangerous, but others help us digest, produce vitamins, and even prevent the arrival of foreign bacteria (which can cause disease).
It is therefore important to leave them alone. Nothing beats the good old toothbrush to prevent bad breath. But beware of fashion trends. Charcoal toothpaste, for example, could permanently damage tooth enamel.
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