Most people know that dentists recommend brushing and flossing every single day, as these two habits help fight against cavities and gum disease, but many dentists are now recommending adding an additional step to a daily oral care routine. This additional step involves tongue scraping, and here are several things you should know about this oral care step.

What it is

Tongue scraping is the process of cleaning your tongue with either your toothbrush or with a tongue-scraping device. Your tongue is a soft, porous body part that absorbs and contains a lot of germs, bacteria, and even plaque. If you brush your teeth and do not clean your tongue, you take the risk of allowing all the bacteria, plaque, and germs to transfer from your tongue right back on your teeth, even right after you cleaned your teeth.

If you have never scraped your tongue before, you can do it by brushing your tongue with your toothbrush, or by scraping from back to front with the tongue-scraping device found on the back of some toothbrushes. If your toothbrush does not have this, you can buy disposable tongue scrapers to use. The important thing is to scrape from back to front and then rinse before repeating. When you are finished, your tongue will look and feel cleaner, as it will be a lot cleaner.

The benefits of scraping your tongue

Choosing to scrape your tongue each day will improve the health of your mouth and will reduce your risks of cavities. You can also reduce your risks of developing gum disease, as tongue scraping removes the plaque from your tongue, and this plaque is what may end up on your gum lines which can lead to gum disease. Scraping your tongue will also improve the freshness of your breath, and it may also help you reduce your risks of many other types of health problems, such as heart disease. Heart disease is linked to plaque in a person's mouth and reducing and removing the plaque can reduce the risks of developing problems with your heart.

If you currently do not scrape or clean your tongue each day, you may want to give it a try. By doing this, you will have a cleaner tongue and mouth, and this may help improve the way food tastes. It could even give you fresher breath. If you still have concerns about bad breath or tongue hygiene, contact a dental clinic like Ballinger Dental Clinic.