Wow you should be asking what about the tongue? It will really be shocking if one said they didn’t know the tongue. The tongue is a muscular organ found in the mouth along with the teeth, gums, tonsils, name it and serves important functions namely;
- Eating
- Swallowing
- Speaking
- Tasting i.e. bitter, sweet, cold, hot etc.
The tongue forms the floor of the mouth of all mammals where humans belong. It harbors a lot of bacteria and food remains, hence playing a big role in bad breath. Unfortunately, most of the times we concentrate on teeth and forget to brush the tongue. This allows accumulation of food within the rough surface of the tongue, which when acted on by bacteria, produce plenty of foul-smelling compounds from the retained food residues.
Each time you brush your teeth never forget to brush the tongue too to clear the dirt that accumulates as it does on our teeth. You can brush your tongue using a tongue scrapper specifically made for that, or the back of the toothbrush that has also be designed for the same purpose and if all these are unreachable then your toothbrush can serve the purpose.
NB: Never forget to brush the tongue!
DR. NAKYONYI MARIA GORRETTI
DENTAL SURGEON
Uganda Dental Association- projects secretary
