by Maria Lannigan
One of the most effective means of preventing bad breath is a simple, cheap method that doesn’t involve buying expensive mouthwashes, gums, or any other product that requires a regular monthly expenditure. By using a tongue scraper once or twice per day, you can eliminate most of the root of your bad breath with a very simple to follow process.
The root of all bad breath comes from your tongue. The back of your tongue to be exact. Living deep within little grooves present inside your tongue are bacteria. These bacteria don’t get much oxygen, and as a result, they end up smelling really bad. This is the direct source of most cases of bad breath.
While using mouthwash and brushing your teeth will both help with this, they’ll only mask the source of the issue and won’t really attack the heart of it. Scraping your tongue will gather up a good portion of these bacteria, and essentially removes them from your tongue.
While some people brush their tongue with their toothbrush while brushing their teeth, there are three reasons why this isn’t too effective.
1) They often fail to reach the back of their tongue, which is where most of the bad breath bacteria live. Besides, seriously trying to reach the back of your tongue with a toothbrush could easily set off a gag reflex.
2) The bristles on a toothbrush are too rough for your tongue and can do permanent damage to the soft tissue on your tongue.
3) The surface area of a toothbrush isn’t wide enough to cover your entire tongue.
A tongue scraper, on the other hand, is a much better option for various reasons. First of all, the thin shape of the scraper will allow you to reach the back of your tongue (the most important part) without feeling uncomfortable and making you gag. Also, a tongue scraper is much smoother than the rough bristles of a toothbrush, and much gentler on the tongue. Lastly, they’re really cheap and they last for a long time. I’ve had the same one for over two years now.
The use of a tongue scraper is absolutely recommended for anyone looking to take care of their breath. Whether you’re doing this and only this, or combining it with mouthwashes or other breath care systems, any dental professional would agree that it’s always something you should do.