Tongue Cleaning
Alright we all brush our teeth right?!?!?....And floss....but how many of us clean our tongues? What? Clean our tongues?!?!
Yes, I said it....Clean our tongues. There is alot of bacterial build-up, food debris, fungi, and dead cells from the surface of the tongue that you may not clean off while brushing your teeth. Yuck!
The bacteria and fungi that grow on the tongue are related to many common oral care and general health problems. As well as the decaying bacteria that produce volatile sulphur compounds on the rear of the tongue; these molecules account for 80 to 95 percent of all cases of halitosis (bad breath).
So we have to take that extra step and clean our tongues!
There are several ways to go about this, ready?
First, take your toothbrush and brush your tongue. They do sell tongue brushes! Toothbrushes are not the most effective way of tongue cleaning.
Second, and more effective is tongue scraping. You can purchase a tongue scraper pretty inexpensively. Tongue cleaners are designed to lift and trap the plague caoting and clean the surface of the tongue.
Tongue cleaning will remove some of the millions of bacteria (up to 500 different types), decaying food debris, fungi (such as candida), and dead cells, from the rear surface of the tongue. Tongue cleaning is generally viewed as an effective solution for many cases of bad breath.
When you clean your tongue you are practicing good oral hygiene. The bacteria are considered as major contributors to periodontal problems, plaque on the teeth, tooth decay, gum infections, gum recession and even tooth loss.
In addition,
physicians have reevaluated
the link between oral health and pathologies of the rest of the body. Many
clinical studies concluded that oral bacteria are associated with a number of
serious diseases. Such as cardiovascular problems, pneumonia, increased risk of diabetes, and osteoporosis of the jaw.
Alright to be honest I love puppy breathe, but as our dog get older doggie breathe isn't as cute as that puppy breathe. So it's also important to keep our dogs, teeth and mouth healthy.
So yes, we should continue to brush our dogs teeth....make sure they have something to chew on so that they can work remove plaque themselves as well! BUT they actually have a tongue cleaner for dogs, check the link here: http://www.orapup.com/. The cleaner uses the dog's natural tendencies to lick! While helping your dog towards fresher breathe, you will be treating the dog, and NOT forcing your dog to do anything he/ she doesn't want to do!
So make sure you brush, floss, and clean your tongue! (and your dog's too!)
Email me and tell me what your up to and what you want to me to blog about, at pamelaschm@optonline.net
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