A Tongue scraper is a practical tool to easily promote oral hygiene. It is used for the care and thorough cleaning of the tongue by removing deposits. Tongue plaque can be removed easily and cleanly with this medical product by carefully scraping the tongue.
What is a tongue scraper?
Tongue cleaning has been known in traditional healing medicine for many centuries. For example in the Indian healing art of Ayurveda.
In Asia, tongue cleaning is a common ritual. In contrast, the use of a tongue scraper is not yet widespread in Europe. But since a clean tongue also corresponds to the ideal of beauty and health, the trend to use a tongue scraper is gaining ground.
The use of a tongue scraper is highly recommended for health reasons. Food scraps build up quickly, especially on the back of the tongue. These deposits encourage the development of harmful bacteria and fungi in the oral cavity. These can lead to inflammation of the oral mucosa and periodontal disease. The tongue coating can also cause unpleasant bad breath. Regularly removing this plaque with a tongue scraper prevents inflammation and odor.
The tongue scraper is used immediately after brushing your teeth. To do this, it is pulled over the tongue several times from behind towards the tip of the tongue. The covering removed is rinsed off.
Shapes, types & types
Very different materials, sizes and shapes are used for the mechanical tongue cleaning device. In the past, flavored small twigs were used for mechanical cleaning. There are also high quality tongue scrapers made of gold or silver. A silver tongue scraper in particular is said to be particularly good for your health.
Tongue scrapers made of stainless steel are also very durable due to the material. They are mostly bent like a feather and pulled across the tongue. There are also flat shapes with an oval head shape that are reminiscent of a wet razor. They are often made of plastic or wood and are less durable.
As an additional function, some tongue scrapers have a semicircle with small brushes so that the tongue can also be brushed off. There are also tongue scrapers with a straight shape that are only bent over the tongue when used. There are also models that have a kind of belly in order to be able to get better into the tongue pit.
Every user has to try out for himself which model is suitable from the variety. A simple entry-level model made of plastic, which is available in every well-stocked drugstore, is also suitable for practicing.
Structure & functionality
There are tongue scrapers in the shape of a loop, with a handle or sideways to pull like a pair of pliers. Tongue scrapers are used to scrape off the coating on the tongue. Either a loop or a V-shaped head with an appropriate cleaning surface is used for this.
The tongue scraper is placed in the back third of the tongue and then pulled forward with light pressure over the tongue. It is beneficial to use the tongue scraper immediately after brushing your teeth. The scraping process is repeated several times, at least three to four times. Each time the tongue scraper is applied to the back of the tongue and then pulled forward over the tongue. The removed plaque should be rinsed off with the tongue scraper. After the cleaning process, the mouth can be rinsed again thoroughly with mouthwash.
It is recommended to use the tongue scraper twice a day. Early in the morning as part of the morning wash and in the evening before going to bed. To prevent infections in the mouth area, the tongue scraper should always be cleaned thoroughly.
From a hygienic point of view, it is advisable to only use a tongue scraper personally and not together with other people. In the household everyone should use their own tongue scraper.
Medical & health benefits
Thorough tongue cleaning is very important for optimal oral hygiene and helps to keep the body healthy. If plaque on the tongue is removed regularly, no dangerous germs or bacteria can form that promote inflammation or diseases.
According to scientific research, coating on the tongue is a decisive trigger for tooth decay and periodontal disease. It is also one of the causes of unpleasant bad breath. Around 50 million different bacteria live in the oral cavity. They can also settle on the tongue and produce sulfur there, which leads to bad breath. Bad breath is sulfur odor.
Dental plaque can also be avoided through regular tongue cleaning. In modern periodontics there are new concepts that assign mechanical tongue cleaning to daily oral hygiene. Problem patients in particular should therefore not forego cleaning their tongue in this way several times a day.
It is particularly urgent for smokers to clean their tongues mechanically every day.Because the nicotine deposits on the tongue can be particularly hazardous to health. From a health perspective, it is of course advisable to refrain from smoking entirely.
In addition to the use of toothbrushes and dental floss, the daily use of a tongue scraper should become a matter of course in the opinion of many dentists, as up to 80% of the bacteria in the oral cavity are on the surface of the tongue.
