Benefits of Tongue Scraping
An average human being accumulates over 10,000 harmful bacteria on the tongue every day. The accumulation of these harmful bacteria is due to the fact that the surface of the tongue (and mouth) harbors specific chemicals which are friendly to these microorganisms. As a result, this causes diseases like gingivitis, ulcers, etc., and even bad breath.
Tongue scraping or tongue cleaning removes these harmful organisms from the surface of the tongue and prevents the formation of plaques (a sticky layer containing millions of microorganisms).
This will make you feel fresh for half an hour each morning before brushing your teeth. It also reduces tooth decay to some extent since it removes salivary substances which as food for many pathogenic organisms that cause tooth decay.
The technique of tongue scraping:
To perform this, you need a tongue scraper. This is very much like a spoon, but with sharp edges along the backside and it has two long thin handles so that one edge can be used to scrape the upper part of the tongue while the other edge can cleanse the lower surface. You must avoid using metal scrapers made from sharp-edged items because they not only may damage your tongue, but also increase your risk of heart attacks and stroke.
Also, avoid toothpicks since they cannot clean properly in between your tongue’s crevices and will just push the dirt around instead. Make sure that before you start scraping your tongue it is at least partially moistened with your own saliva or water, but not so moist that it falls off.
Then stand over a sink and gently put the spoon-shaped scraper on top of your tongue. Gently move the scraper from the back to the front of your mouth along the upper surface of your tongue without applying too much pressure.
Do not scrape hard enough to cause pain, just gentle scraping movements will do the job they are supposed to do. After you are done with one side, turn around and repeat on another side as well.
Do this for about 10 seconds at each place which is why you need two small handles for this purpose. You can also see how dirty these tools get over time and how their color changes into brown if you keep them inside your mouth.
If you do this regularly for a few days, your bad breath and body odor will reduce. This is because by removing the layer of microbial from your tongue, you are effectively reducing the opportunistic infection (the destruction of tissues observed in some cases where the immune system fails to provide protection to the host).
Since many diseases like gingivitis and plaque-induced periodontal disease are opportunistic infections; thus regular tongue cleaning reduces such diseases to an extent as well.
Tongue scrapers can be purchased at most pharmacies and supermarkets very cheaply and they usually last at least six months under proper conditions. If you don’t want to use it yourself, please make sure that everyone in your family uses it.
Tongue scraping side effects:
Bad breath, tooth decay, and gum disease: Bacteria can collect up in the tongue which is a perfect breeding ground and if not scraped off they can enter your bloodstream through micro-cuts.
Tooth stains:
A build-up of bacteria, food debris, and dead cells on the tongue’s surface cause pigmentation on its surface turning it brown or black. This discoloration gets worse if you don’t brush your teeth for a short while, allowing these particles to mix with saliva and stain your tongue.
Taste problems:
Sometimes when it becomes darker due to bacteria overgrowth after scraping, taste buds might get covered by keratin that forms during faster cell turnover making you lose some senses…that rotten egg taste in your mouth you get when you’ve eaten something bad for a long time…
A sore tongue:
The rough nature of metal scraping can damage the taste buds and even cause pain, making it difficult to eat or talk.
Touch sensitivity:
metal scrapers are usually very hard but still, they are not as smooth as plastic or rubber ones. With their uneven surface, they scratch the delicate top layer of your tongue causing small cuts which might bleed. This issue is exacerbated by scrubbing too much without letting your tongue heal. This can lead to intense pain accompanied by a metallic taste in the mouth similar to the one after accidentally biting your tongue…
Benefits of tongue scraping Ayurveda:
Tongue scraping is an important daily routine that one should do to prevent oral problems. This process eliminates the harmful bacteria which enter the mouth and damage the tissue lining of your tongues, cheeks, gums, and throat. It also helps to remove toxins present in the saliva thus preventing halitosis (bad breath), bleeding gums, and inflammation.
The Vedic science of “Ayurveda” describes the human body as a combination of three different entities called Vata (air element), Pitta (fire element), and Kapha (water element). Balance among these elements maintains good health; imbalance cause ill health.
The tongue is considered to be a major receptacle for Kapha Dosha or mucus- phlegm-excess secretion of the salivary glands. Mucus secreted by these glands coats the tongue and its slimy nature blocks taste buds.
Ayurvedic texts prescribe daily tongue scraping as a major health-promoting habit. According to Ayurveda, coating on the tongue is the accumulation of mucus that has thickened due to passing time and food particles sticking to it.
When we swallow this stickiness goes down into the stomach along with saliva through the esophagus without being digested and thus creating problems like respiratory disorders, asthma, lung infection, and other digestive problems.
The normal colors of our tongues vary from pale pink to deep bluish-red depending upon individuals’ eating habits and heredity factors. The color of the tongue can also vary due to certain diseases like jaundice where the color turns yellow, or in cases of excessive smoking, too much spicy food, and drinking habits.
Stains can easily be noticed on the tongue surface. These are mostly due to substances that are not part of our normal diet-coffee, tea, red wine, etc.
Benefits of tongue scraping Reddit:
Stimulates the salivary glands to secrete saliva which contains digestive enzymes, antimicrobial proteins, and immunoglobulins. This fluid washes away food particles and bacteria stuck in the crevices of your tongue.
Removes thick or dark streaks (a bacterial biofilm) that coat the tongue leaving a shiny-clean surface with healthy pink color.
Enhances taste perception because it removes dead cells on the top layer of your tongues giving you a fresher breath and a better sense of what you eat/drink. It also kills certain bacteria that cause bad breath.
According to research, there are approximately 700 species belonging to 400 genera of bacteria living in our mouths at any given time. The entire human population of the Earth is considerably less than 100 trillion individuals. In other words, the number of bacteria in your mouth exceeds the total number of humans who have ever lived on planet Earth by almost a factor of 10.