According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, our mouths host no fewer than 700 species of microbes, including “germs like bacteria, fungus and more”. Some are helpful in producing vitamins, or aiding in digestion, for example, but others can cause problems like bad breath.

Because many of these microbes live on the tongue, recent years have seen increased use of oral hygiene devices specifically designed to clean the top of the tongue. One kind is a tongue scraper. Now in case you’ve never seen a tongue scraper before, it’s kind of like a toothbrush but with a U-shaped head.

What role does saliva play in oral hygiene? How regularly should I be cleaning my tongue then, if it all? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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