Do tongue cleaners work

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If it was the first time you ever heard of the word tongue cleaner, you probably going to have a little doubt whether tongue cleaner is actually a thing or it just some sort of gimmick that company made for a marketing purpose.

Tongue cleaning is not just a gimmick and tongue cleaner actually is one of the tools you’ll need to take a good care of your mouth. Just like brushing your teeth, cleaning your tongue also have a lot of benefits including reducing bad breath, read more about the benefits here.

How do tongue cleaner work
The concept is pretty simple; the bump on the tongue cleaner will scrape and remove the bacteria, food debris and that white coating on your tongue.

A lot of peoples use tongue scraper to scrape their tongue but for those who prefer to do it fancy, they use tongue brush with tongue cleaning gel to get the job done. However, even if you’re using a tongue brush, you’ll notice that the tongue brush too have this little bump which is use to scrape you tongue as you brush.

Shouldn’t you just use your toothbrush?
Toothbrush isn’t designed for tongue cleaning purpose but some peoples do use them to clean their tongue. However, using toothbrush to brush your tongue might spread the bacteria all over the tongue surface instead of removing them.

Is it worth it to purchase these tools?
Totally depend on the condition of your tongue. If you don’t think your tongue is that dirty or you don’t think you have a bad breath,  it probably enough to purchase a toothbrush that have a tongue scraper on it back and clean your tongue with that after you brush your teeth.

However, for a more proper tongue cleaning you might want to purchase a tongue scraper.

Tongue scraping benefits that you should know

Tongue scraping is beneficial to your dental health

If you never scape your tongue than you’re missing a lot. Just like brushing your teeth, tongue scraping is also good for your overall oral health. There are a few  tongue scraping benefits that you should know and in this post we’re going to list several of them.

Improve your sense of taste
You can enjoy your food better when your tongue is cleaned. Removing those bacteria and debris on your tongue will expose the taste bud over more causing you to be able to taste the food that you eat better.

Reduce bad breath
Scraping your tongue can help to remove food debris and bacteria on your tongue which will reduce bad breath. Brushing your tongue using a toothbrush is not enough, you’re going to need a tongue scraper to get your tongue cleaned effectively.

Better dental health
Most of the time, bacteria or food debris are not a good thing. Especially when they’re in your mouth, or tongue. Removing the bacteria and food debris will definitely lead to a lot better dental health.

Cleaning your tongue correctly play a major role in maintaining your overall dental health. By using the right technique and basic tools, you can improve the way you taste and the way your mouth smell.

If you’re not really sure how to clean your tongue, check out this articles for more info regarding how to do it.

The right tools can help to clean your tongue more effectively, check out this article for more info about the tools that you might going to need.

How to brush your tongue without gagging

Gag reflex can be reduced

One of the main problem when it come to tongue cleaning is the gag reflex side effect. Some peoples face this problem almost every time they’re cleaning their tongue that is why you need to know how to brush your tongue without gagging.

The gag reflex is pretty normal and it should go away in time. However for those who find it really difficult to overcome this problem, here are a few tips for you.

Breath with your nose
One of the reason you’re experiencing the gag reflex is you’re trying to breath through your mouth. Breathing through your nose while cleaning your tongue might be able to reduce your gagging.

Take it easy
Of course you’re eager to remove that stain on your tongue but you’ll need to do it gently. Brushing too far inside your mouth might cause the gag reflex to occur. Other than that, you might also damage your taste bud if you’re brushing your tongue to hard. Try to brush gently and do not brush too far inside to prevent gagging.

Cleaning your tongue is not really that difficult if you know how to do it correctly. You can read more about how to clean your tongue in this post.

Extra tips : Use tools that’s created and designed to clean tongue
Using the right tools not only help to clean your tongue effectively but these tool can also help making tongue cleaning a much easier task. Find out more about tongue cleaning tool.

3 white tongue cleaning myth you should know

Don't listen to the myths

Getting a correct info about tongue cleaning is a must if you want to clean your tongue effectively. There are some wrong info being passed around about cleaning your tongue and in this articles we are going to bunk these myths.

Myth number 1
You need to scrape the tongue hard

Why is it wrong
When scraping your tongue, the most important thing to do is to make sure there are less gaps as possible between your tongue and the scraper. But this doesn’t mean you need to scrape your tongue viciously. Scarping your tongue too hard can actually damage your tongue.

Myth number 2
Scarping is enough to reduce bad breath

Why is it wrong
The bacteria that cause bad breath is breeding below the surface of that gunk on your tongue. After you successfully remove the gunk, you will need to kill the bacteria. You can do this by brushing your tongue and wash your mouth regularly.

Myth number 3
Complex and expensive gadget is needed to effectively clean your tongue

Why is it wrong
Just like many things in our life, it is better to have a fancy gadget to help getting the job done. But that doesn’t mean it is really necessary. All you really need to keep your tongue clean is a few simple equipments. Check out this post about tongue cleaning tool for more info.

What important is you make cleaning your tongue as a routine. Doing this can reduce bad breath and increase your ability to taste.

How to clean your tongue

Step by step tongue cleaning

Knowing how to clean your tongue correctly is important to prevent bad breath. Most of the time, mouthwash and toothpaste are not enough to clean your tongue. Mouthwash is not even suitable for getting rid of the white coat on your tongue.

To clean your tongue effectively, you’re going to need some tools, read more about tongue cleaning tool over here.

Cleaning your tongue is actually pretty easy, let’s get started:

Step number 1
Start by putting the tongue scraper on your tongue and slowly and gently move the scraper forward. Scraping your tongue is vital especially if you want to get rid of that white coat on your tongue.

Step number 2
Apply a small among of tongue cleaning gel on the tongue brush and brush your tongue gently.

Step number 3
Rinse your mouth with water.

Reminder:

• It is normal for you to experience gag reflex during the process especially if you’re new to this. To avoid this, do not scrape or brush to deep inside your mouth.
• Do not brush or scrape your tongue harshly. Doing this might cause damage to your tongue instead of cleaning it. You can read more about the side effects of tongue cleaning and how you can avoid it here.

That white coating and bacteria on your tongue can cause bad breath, if you know how to clean your tongue and make it part of your daily routine, you can reduce bad breath and increase your confident.

Tongue cleaning tool

Tool that can help you to clean your tongue

There are variety of tongue cleaning tool to choose from. For those who just discovered the benefits of tongue cleaning, we’re going to give you some explanation about the tools available to get the job done (with pictures). Other than that, we will explain the side effect of cleaning your tongue and how you can reduce it.

What they are, basically...
Basically, all these tools work pretty much the same way, they remove bacteria, fungi and even food debris on the surface of your tongue. However, they do have a few differences.

Tongue scraper

the scraper

Tongue scraper is the most common tongue cleaning tool available in the market today. It is easy to use, cheap and widely available.

Tongue cleaner

Cleaner

This tool is usually made of either plastic or metal, unlike the scraper you’ll need to use both of your hand to clean your tongue with this.

Tongue brush

Don't forget to brush

It’s like a toothbrush for your tongue. You put a little bit of tongue cleaning gel on your tongue brush and brush your tongue.

The side effect of tongue cleaning
Some people complain that they gag when cleaning their tongue. To reduce this effect, you can try brushing your tongue by pulling forward only.  Other than that, try not to brush too far in your mouth.

Read more about gag reflex and other tongue cleaning side effect.

The most important part of choosing a tongue cleaning tool is to go with the one that you’re most comfortable with. Some peoples prefer the scraper because it cheap and easy to use while other think that they’ll need the tongue brush with tongue cleaning gel to get the job done.

We think the scraper work great, how about you?

How to make a homemade tongue scraper

There is alternative to this

Despite the fact that tongue scraper is cheap and widely available in the market, there are always reasons for peoples to make their own homemade tongue scraper.

For example, you probably need to make your own DIY tongue scraper because tongue scraper is hard to find in your country, or maybe you just looking for something a lot more simple and fast to clean your tongue.

Whatever the reasons is, today we’re going to show you how to make your own homemade tongue scraper at home.

homemade tongue scraper using a plastic spoon

Tongue scraping can be done with spoon

Or metal spoon, it will work too. If you’re looking for a simple and fast method to clean your tongue, simply use a spoon to get the job done.

You can do this by starting at the back of your tongue and pull the spoon forward with the spoon faced down.

This might look too simple and easy as you don’t have to modify the spoon or anything but it will get the build up on your tongue scraped for good.

DIY tongue cleaner VS purchased tongue cleaner
Nevertheless, if tongue scraper is available in your country, it is better to get one instead of using a plastic spoon because the tongue scrapers are actually designed and create to clean your tongue while spoon is not invented for that particular purpose.

3 tongue cleaning side effect you should know

The side effect can be avoided

When you make tongue cleaning as your daily routine, it is obvious that you’re hoping that you can improve your oral health by doing it. But what about the side effect?

Unfortunately, tongue cleaning side effect exist and in this post you’re going to find out what the side effect are, how can you reduce them and if it is worth it to clean your tongue with all this possible side effect present.

Damaged taste bud
Not only it make your food tasteless, a damaged taste bud can also cause infection to your tongue. This side effect often caused by viciously brushing and scraping your tongue. To avoid damaging your own taste bud, try to brush or scrap your tongue gently.

Gag reflex or urge to vomit
Gag reflex is pretty normal especially for someone who is new to tongue cleaning. Good news is, most of the time this is only temporary. You can also avoid scraping or brushing too far in your mouth to reduce this side effect.

Unintentionally helping the bacterias to thrive
The purpose of tongue cleaning is to remove the bacteria on your tongue. However, cleaning your tongue by brushing alone without scraping might cause the bacteria to get further into the tongue surface.

To prevent this simply make tongue scraping as part of your tongue cleaning routine.

Should you clean your tongue?, will it be worth it? – you decide!
Most of these tongue cleaning side effect occur due to improper or harsh cleaning done by the person himself and can easily prevented by cleaning your tongue gently. Other than that, cleaning your tongue can improve your sense of taste and reduce bad breath.