Brushing Your Tongue

Encouraging your child to build healthy habits at a young age such as brushing their teeth including their tongue, sets their oral health routine for the rest of their life, and makes your child's dentist extremely happy. Many skip over brushing their tongue. However, the tongue acts like a bed where a lot of the bacteria in the mouth lies on the tongue. Therefore, brushing and flossing only the teeth is not enough to remove all the bacteria in the mouth. The fewer bacteria living in the mouth, the less decay will occur on the teeth and the fewer bacteria will be ingested.

One way to clean the tongue is by lightly brushing it with a toothbrush and a small amount of toothpaste with water. To remove more bacteria, use a gentle tongue scraper and scrape the bacteria off the tongue slowly to prevent any damage. Wash the scraper after each scrap and repeat until the tongue appears clean. The tongue should be cleaned with a toothbrush or a tongue scraper two times a day.

Ensure your child sees their pediatric dentist at least twice a year to maintain optimal dental care. For more information or any questions, contact our pediatric office at NexGen Dentistry in National City, CA.