How to Clean a Tongue
A common cause of halitosis, or chronic bad breath, is bacterial growth on the tongue. Many people can imagine how their teeth would feel, look and smell without regular brushing yet forget to clean the tongue as part of their daily dental hygiene program. Fortunately, tongue scraping is a bad-breath solution that's easy to learn.
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Instructions
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1
Apply a pea-sized amount of quality toothpaste to a wet toothbrush.
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2
Open your mouth wide and stick your tongue out at yourself in the mirror. Reach in with the toothbrush and gently touch the back of your tongue, near your throat. If you gag, pull the toothbrush a bit farther out of your mouth and try again. Repeat this step until you find a starting point that does not cause you to gag. Don't worry if you can't get very far back; your gag reflex will relax over time.
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3
Press down on the toothbrush and pull it forward. Drag it across the entire length of your tongue until you reach the tip.
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Repeat Step 2, moving the brush off to one side slightly so you drag across a new section of tongue. Spit out excess toothpaste if necessary, but don't swallow it.
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Continue in this fashion until you have scraped the entire top of your tongue. Rinse the toothbrush. Lighten the pressure, and repeat the process on the underside. If the procedure is painful, you're pushing too hard.
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Rinse your mouth thoroughly for at least one minute with a bacteria-killing mouthwash. Spit, rather than swallow, when you're finished. For a simple bad-breath solution, add tongue scraping to your daily dental hygiene program.
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Tips & Warnings
There are more bacteria near the base of your tongue than the tip. Light-colored areas can indicate severe bacterial growth.
If you have a very strong gag reflex, try using an inverted spoon as a tongue scraper. Some people have better luck placing a spoon far back in the throat than a toothbrush.
Toothbrushes and spoons do an acceptable job, but tongue scrapers sold in stores are also effective.
Brush, tongue scrape, floss and see your dentist regularly for optimum dental health.
