Cleaning your tongue is the key to a truly healthy mouth and a fresh breath. Yes! Brushing your teeth is essential. But if you do so but forget about how to clean your tongue, you’re only halfway there.
All kinds of bacteria and residues build up in the tongue and decompose there. This, if not attended to, leads to severe tooth decay and cavities, as well as the worst of breaths.
But, how often should you clean your tongue? That’s an interesting question, and we’re answering it now.
How to clean your tongue: the frequency matters
Just like it happens with your teeth, the longer you leave build-up and debris in your tongue, the more exposed you are to oral health issues.
The tongue accumulates even more bacteria than the teeth, and it’s particularly crucial to clean it at night.
Why?
Because during the night, our mouth is closed, and there’s not enough saliva movement for self-cleaning functions. You don’t drink water while sleeping either.
So, bacteria tend to accumulate even more than during the day and cause severe morning breath.
But that doesn’t mean that it’s enough to clean it just before you go to bed. The minimum recommended for cleaning your tongue is twice a day. And the best way to remember it is by doing it after you brush your teeth.
Even so, as we already mentioned, the tongue accumulates bacteria faster and in greater quantity.
This means that, even if you brush before bed and after waking up, you could still have bad breath during the day. Cleaning or scrapping your tongue at least once during the day – for a total of 3 times a day – is the best way to keep bacteria at bay and a fresh mouth.
The benefits of cleaning your tongue often
The benefits of cleaning your tongue go beyond having nice breath.
Did you know that if you neglect your tongue when brushing, all that bacteria will jump back to your teeth as soon as you take off the brush?
That means that you will be as vulnerable -as if you didn’t brush at all, to health and cosmetic problems like:
- Staining
- bad breath
- tooth decay
- cavities
- gum disease
Are you sure you want to risk that just to avoid a couple of minutes of scrapping? We bet you don’t.
Plus,
In matters of love, there’s nothing less attractive than a white tongue covered with a sticky build-up that stinks like garbage. So, don’t be that awful date nobody wants to kiss!
And in case you don’t know how to clean your tongue, remember what you have at hand:
- toothbrush
- tongue scraper
- mouthwash
If you want a more detailed idea to use them, you can find some guidance on our blog! Keep that smile healthy and the breath fresh!
