TONGUE SCRAPING

Tongue scraping is a daily health-maintenance procedure that very few people bother with, probably because they don't yet realize they need to keep their tongues clean.
However, maintaining fresh breath & healthy gum tissue means you have to remove plaque on a regular basis to keep both your breath & tongue fresh & healthy; food debris, odorous dead bacteria & skin cells, as well as stagnant oral fluids have health & social consequences that are largely avoidable.
Nobody wants bad breath or gum disease, & this section will show you how to take better control of both problems through the use of a tongue scraper.

Why should we bother to scrape our tongues?
First, it is important to realize that the tongue doesn't have a smooth surface, as most people assume.
Rather, it is covered by wormlike projections called filiform papillae that can be long or short, & generally number in the thousands.
One way to visualize these filiform papillae is to compare them to a shag rug.
The wet, not-very-clean shag is what the upper surface of the tongue is like in the majority of people.
The larger surface area of the tongue may harbor many more micro-organisms; there can be literally trillions of living, dying, rotting, stinking micro=organisms on top of the tongue.
Dead skin cells, food debris, & oral fluids are literally saturating the area around the papillae, intermingling with the innumerable micro-organisms -- & they are most definitely not harmless or unnoticed by others (for e.g. bad breath)
Whether the stew is on the tongue or trapped in the sulci, it still stinks, still causes soft tissue breakdown, & still creates inflammation, sometimes dramatically.
Sometimes patients' tongues will be quite tender, & will bleed on tongue scraping efforts-not surprising considering that the same tissue-destroying enzymes & odors that are under the gums in the sulci are in the stew on the top of the tongue.
The tenderness & bleeding usually abate quickly once the tongue gets cleaned daily.

Most scrapers come either as a plastic strip with serrated edges, or as a single-handled metal or plastic device.
Tongue can be cleaned with the toothbrush also.

When scraping the tongue, it is very important to scrape as far back as possible, since getting rid of micro-organisms & odorous debris depends on how effectively this step is performed.
The gag reflex can be a problem for some just starting this important habit, but it is usually overcome quickly & generally ceases to be a problem.
Having a healthy mouth & fresh breath can be a powerful motivator.

How do you know when your tongue is clean?
You'll know when you are scraping & no longer getting any odorous residue, & when your tongue is totally pink



fig. 1. surface of tongue with VSCs & gram negative bacteria
fig. 2. toothbrushing just breaks apart bacteria
fig. 3. scraper sweeps away gram negative bacteria
fig. 4. Rinse clean the deep fissures