Bacteria living on your Tongue: How to Get Rid! Smile Store

Tongue Bacteria

Your Tongue is crawling with bacteria

Think about it – everything you eat coats the tongue. Coffee turns it brown; red wine turns it red; multi-coloured ice pops turn it….. multi-coloured!

All of those bumpy taste buds, nooks and crannies on the tongue surface make it an idea place for bacteria to hide and multiply.

Nasty coating grows on Tongue

These bacteria form a sticky covering all over the whole tongue, called biofilm.

Biofilm is exactly as it sounds – a film of biological material made up of bits of decaying food; bacteria that feed off that food and the destructive acids they secrete as a result.

This growing group of microorganisms coats the whole tongue and leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth and rotten breath. It doesn’t do your teeth any favours either.

This unpleasant film of nastiness must go. But how?

Rinsing not enough- Brush that Tongue!

Rinsing out your mouth doesn’t work; that only gives the surface cells of the biofilm a shower. Even a mouthwash can only destroy the surface layer of biofilm cells.

You need to dislodge the bacteria stubbornly handing on to all the crevices by giving that tongue a good brushing every time you clean your teeth.

Just brush the tongue gently back and forth; then side to side as the last step in your teeth cleaning routine. That’s all you need to physically remove the bacteria.

You can get a tongue scraper if you like, but regular brushing each time you clean your teeth should do the trick.

Make Tongue Brushing a Habit

Incorporating a swift brushing of the tongue each time you clean your teeth is a quick and simple way to improve your dental health. Floss and brush regularly, and you should enjoy the benefits of well- maintained teeth – a healthy smile and breath that doesn’t make people cringe.

If you find despite following these steps that you have bad breath or any pain/inflammation in your mouth, please call us straight away on 021 432 0004 and we will book you in to find the source of the problem.