The short answer to this question is, yes! You should brush your tongue every day along with brushing your teeth. But why? Your Corvallis, OR dentist at Monroe Avenue Dental wants to provide important insight about this frequently asked dental question so you can level up your oral health game right away.

Brushing Your Tongue Keeps Teeth Cleaner

You already know that bacteria congregate on your teeth and gums. You already know that you need to brush and floss regularly to prevent bacteria from building up as a plaque biofilm that can become hardened plaque. Your tongue is a bumpy surface full of taste buds and crevices that can also harbor bacterial biofilm. If you don’t brush it away when you brush your teeth, your tongue will just reapply bacteria to your teeth and gums, where it can continue to damage those structures.

Brushing Your Tongue Can Prevent Halitosis

The bacteria nestled into the crevices between your taste buds can sit there and cause a stink if you don’t brush them away regularly. In fact, tiny food particles can also live with the bacteria on your tongue. As our dentist in Corvallis explains, the bacteria and food particles left on your tongue will continue interacting and cause volatile sulfur compounds that contribute to bad breath.

Improve Your Sense of Taste with Tongue Brushing

Brushing and rinsing off the bacterial biofilm from your tongue every day liberates your taste buds from that thick coating that can dull your sense of taste. Once cleaned, your taste buds are free to fully sense and enjoy the flavors of your next meal.

How Should I Clean My Tongue?

After you’ve brushed your teeth and gums, just brush back and forth and side to side across all the surfaces of your tongue. Then rinse with water and spit it out. Just be careful not to brush too hard, so that you don’t break the skin.

Ask the Dentist Corvallis Neighbors Trust for Oral Health Advice

If you have any questions or concerns about your oral health or just need to schedule your next dental cleaning, get in touch with us today at Monroe Avenue Dental . We look forward to seeing you!