Your Tongue: A Bad Breath
Incubator
Surprisingly, it may be your tongue
that's causing embarrassing bad breath. People go through great
effort to produce a sparkling set of teeth, but they ignore the
large organ in between (the tongue) which is literally crawling
with odor producing germs.
Bacteria responsible for bad breath, gingivitis, and tooth
decay are removed from teeth and gums by normal brushing and
flossing. For smart bacteria, however, the tongue provides a
perfect hiding place.
Here bacteria live in a virtual compost heap of saliva,
protein, and putrefied food remains. Unfortunately for us,
bacteria feast on this compost to produce the volatile sulfur
particles responsible for foul breath.
Many people brush their tongue in hopes of removing
bacteria. This is generally not very helpful and tends to just
push bacteria further into the tongue. To effectively remove
these offending bacteria, consider one of several commercially
available tongue
cleaners (tongue scrapers).
These simple devices, usually made of plastic or stainless
steel, allow you to quickly remove bacteria, protein, and food
debris from the tongue producing fresher, cleaner breath.
For more Bad Breath Tips, visit the
Bad
Breath Relief Center
|