What Happens When You Don’t Clean Your Tongue

You brush, you floss, and you visit the dentist for your routine visits, but do you floss your tongue? It might be time to add tongue cleaning to your regular dental care routine. In this blog post, we’ll let you know why it’s so important.

Bad Breath

The biggest dental issue that comes when you don’t clean your tongue is bad breath, also known as halitosis. When your tongue doesn’t get the attention it needs, bacteria will build up on its textured surface, leading to the onset of bad breath. It’s important that you clean your whole tongue, especially the back as that’s where the bacteria can really stick.

Effect on Taste Buds

When your tongue doesn’t get clean, that build-up of bacteria we talked about, in partnership with food particles and dead skin cells will cover up your taste buds. As a result, your sense of taste will be less pronounced, and you don’t want that!

Discoloration

Neglecting to clean your tongue can leave you with something unsightly. As the food particles are allowed to build up, especially if you consume dark pigmented foods and drinks like coffee, your tongue will start to look dark and even furry. With regular cleaning, the appearance will likely go away quickly.

Gingivitis & Tooth Decay

The bottom line is that if you’re not cleaning your tongue, you’re allowing bacteria to have a home in your mouth. That bacteria can easily spread to your teeth and gums, causing serious issues like cavities and gum disease.

Preventive Care & More in San Antonio, Texas

Preventive care is important to keeping your smile healthy and avoiding major dental work in the future. If you are a patient with us here at Chandler Dental Center, we’ll let you know if you’re missing anything when it comes to dental care. If you’re not already a patient, give us a call or visit our website to request your first visit.

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Categorised in: Oral Health, Oral Hygiene, Preventative Dentistry

This post was written by Chandler Dental Center