How to Use a Tongue Cleaner Safely

A tongue cleaner can be a good addition to a home dental regimen.

You can purchase a tongue cleaner at CVS, Walgreen's, Walmart, Target, and a number of other stores. They are available in the same aisle with the toothbrushes, dental floss, mouthwash, toothpaste, etc. This article contains tips about how to use a tongue cleaner if you are interested in adding a tongue cleaner to your current home dental care routine.

Things You'll Need

• A tongue cleaner

Instructions

1. Do not scrape use the tongue cleaner to scrape your tongue really, really hard. This will only hurt you and possibly cause your tongue to bleed. Rub it gently down your tongue several times, covering the entire area of your tongue.

2. Don't stick a tongue cleaner too far back in your mouth/throat, or this will only feel uncomfortable and it could even cause you to gag. You can use a tongue cleaner any time you want, but many people like to use it before or after they brush their teeth.

3. Just because you have added a tongue cleaner to your home dental care routine, this does not mean that you should stop brushing your tongue each time you brush your teeth. Brushing your tongue is still important, as is using mouthwash. A tongue cleaner is just an additional step you may want to add to caring for your mouth and teeth at home. It's still important to keep flossing everyday as well. In other words, a tongue cleaner cannot take the place of other aspects of your dental care routine, it is only intended to enhance or supplement your current tooth and mouth care regimen.

4. For an extra fresh feeling and tasting mouth, and to make their tongues get even cleaner, some people like to apply some toothpaste to their tongue cleaner before using it to clean their tongues, and then they rinse out their mouths.

5. It is a good idea to rinse your tongue cleaner after each use. Some people like to rinse their tongue cleaners in very hot water. You will also want to buy new tongue cleaners (to replace the old ones) with some frequency. Some people like to get a new tongue cleaner every eight to twelve weeks.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to talk to your dentist if you have any questions or concerns at all about how to use a tongue cleaner properly, or if your dentist thinks it is a good idea to incorporate a tongue cleaner into your current home dental care regimen.