Tongue scraping is one of the best ways to remove extra particles and bacteria from your tongue. These particles may result in bad breath also known as halitosis. Hence, removing them via a tongue scraper is essential.
What is tongue scraping?
Tongue scraping is the process of using a tongue cleaner, designed to clean the upper surface of the tongue. A tongue scraper can be of plastic or metal. It helps you remove the coating of food particles, bacteria etc thus preventing bad breath.
Tongue scraping can improve your overall oral health, including your gums and teeth. Although it cannot replace brushing, it is a good practice to add to your dental routine.A good oral routine must include tongue scraping.
How is tongue scraping beneficial?
While your tongue won’t get any cavities it can still be the root cause of bad breath and oral ailments. Cleaning your tongue is essential to keep bad bacteria and food debris away. It helps to remove odour-causing bacteria, debris, dead cells, and toxins from the surface of your tongue.
Here are a few benefits of tongue scraping:
1) Better sense of taste
Tongue scraping helps improve your sense of taste. Cleaning your tongue twice a day can help remove unwanted particles and dead cells which helps in keeping your palate fresh and helps in distinguishing bitter, salty, sour and sweet sensations.
2) Removes Bacteria
Bad bacteria can be the source of many of your dental woes such as bad breath and tooth decay. Scraping your tongue could help maintain the right balance of good bacteria in your mouth by removing the dead cells and food debris.
3)Helps improve digestion
Digestion begins in the mouth. Saliva in your mouth releases enzymes which help in digestion. A clean tongue activates enzymes that in turn help in digestion. Better digestion means improved gut health.
4)Removes Bad Breath
Dead cells, bacteria or debris on your tongue can cause bad breath. Using a tongue scraper twice a day for seven days reduces the overall occurrence of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli bacteria in the mouth. These two bacteria cause bad breath and tooth decay.
5)Boosts immunity
Tongue scraping improves your oral hygiene which helps in boosting your immunity. The bad bacteria in your mouth suppress your immunity. The build-up of bacteria on your tongue thus weakens your immune system. Your tongue acts as the first line of defence and scraping helps in the healthy functioning of the immune system.
How to perform tongue scraping?
Tongue scraping is one of the important steps of oral hygiene. Tongue scraping is easy to perform and can be done using minimal equipment. One can use either a toothbrush or a tongue cleaner for tongue scraping. A tongue cleaner is available in various shapes and materials such as plastic, steel and copper. It is a U-shaped metal device that you can place on your tongue and use for scraping.
You can use the following steps for cleaning your tongue
1) After brushing and flossing your teeth, open your mouth wide open and place the tongue scraper at the back of your tongue. Start scraping from the back to the front
2) Apply gentle pressure and pull the tongue cleaner to the tip of your tongue
3) Rinse the scraper with warm water and use it for scraping again if needed
4) Do not move the scraper from the front to back, always from back to front
5) Swish the mouth with water and spit it out
6) Wash the best tongue cleaner with warm water, clean it with soap and keep it in a dry place
Please note that it is important to not take the tongue scraper to far back as it may cause a gag reflex.
The entire process will take less than 2 minutes and can be repeated one more time during the day.
Are there any side effects or risks to consider?
Tongue scraping is a painless and easy process. If tongue scraping causes bleeding or pain then you must stop using the tongue cleaner. You may be suffering from pain due to too much force or uneven edges of the scraper.
Another important thing to keep in mind is gag reflex. You may feel like vomiting if you activate gag reflex. Make sure you don’t use the tongue scraper too far on your tongue. Use it to clean from back to front.
If you notice any worse symptoms or any other issues due to tongue scraping then you must visit your dentist. A dentist will be able to find out the underlying cause of bad breath and recommend other solutions
Products to try
Tongue scrapers or best tongue cleaners are available in various shapes and materials including copper, stainless steel and plastic. You can choose one based on your preferences. We recommend a copper tongue cleaner over any other tongue cleaner. Why?
According to Ayurveda, tongue scrapers should be made of gold, silver, copper, tin or brass. While the feasibility and availability of gold or silver tongue scrapers are far-fetched, copper tongue cleaners are voted by research studies.
Copper is used as an effective bacteria-resistant material since ancient times hence using it to clean the tongue adds to its benefits. As our mouths are loaded with good and bad bacteria, a good copper tongue cleaner can help in reducing the bacterial load on the tongue.
The anti-bacterial properties of copper make it a superior cleaner to other tongue cleaners.
The Best tongue cleaner
Why use the Perfora copper tongue cleaner?
- It is made from food-grade copper which means high quality and anti-bacterial properties
- It is recommended by dentists
- It is designed by artisans
- It has a unique design and is rust-proof
- It gives you multiple benefits such as freedom from bad breath, better gut health, better taste and superior oral health.
All Perfora products are vegan, cruelty-free and also sustainable. So, choose Perfora and say ‘yes’ to a healthy mouth and healthy planet.
A tongue scraper is one of the best investments you can make for better oral health. It will give you fresh breath, better gut health and more confidence. Apart from a tongue scraper, there are several other ways to maintain and improve your oral health such as
1) Brush twice a day to fight cavities and other dental problems. Use good toothpaste based on your individual needs.
2) Use a mouthwash to rinse all the debris after brushing your teeth.
3) Flossing is important to remove all the particles stuck in between teeth. A string floss or a water flosser are good options to consider.
4) Eat more raw foods than fried and oily foods to maintain the whiteness of your teeth
5) Say no to smoking and drinking for better oral health
6) Drink plenty of water and visit your dentist regularly for frequent dental checkups.