The Dentist From a Child' Point of View

The Importance Of Brushing Your Tongue

If you are like most people, you probably brush your teeth once or twice each day, but do you ever take time to brush your tongue? Brushing your tongue might be something you forget to do, or it might be something you really do not see any importance in. The problem with not brushing your tongue is that it opens up the potential for you to develop problems in your mouth, and here are a few things you should understand about brushing your tongue.

Your tongue is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria

The design of the tongue makes it the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. The tongue is soft and porous, and it contains a large number of crevices in it. Bacteria can easily get on the tongue and into these crevices, and it will remain there until you remove it. Having too much bacteria in your mouth opens up the risk for numerous oral problems, including bad breath. Bad breath is often the result of too much bacteria in the mouth, and your bad breath could be due to a lack of brushing of your tongue.

Not brushing increases the risk of spreading plaque

When bacteria is present, you will often find plaque too. Plaque is sticky and is found in every person's mouth, and plaque feeds on bacteria. You might be familiar with your dentist finding and removing plaque from your teeth, but did you know that plaque can also form on your tongue? The problem with this is that if you do not brush your tongue while brushing your teeth, you might be brushing the plaque off your teeth but not off your tongue. If this happens, the plaque found on your tongue could spread to your teeth. Therefore, you cleaning the plaque off your teeth may not be very helpful if your tongue contains plaque and will spread it back onto your teeth.

You should brush it every time you brush your teeth

If you want to keep your mouth as healthy as possible, you should start brushing your tongue every morning and night, or whenever you brush your teeth. This could help you have fresher breath and cleaner teeth.

If you currently do not brush your tongue each time you brush your teeth, you should start. After doing this for several days, you might see an improvement in your breath, and you also might decrease your risks for developing cavities. If you have questions about your oral health, meet with a dentist in your area, such as at Hayden  Dental .


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