In the world of oral hygiene, brushing your teeth and flossing often take center stage. But there’s an unsung hero in the fight against oral health issues – your tongue.

Part of HuffPost Lifestyle. ©2025 BuzzFeed, Inc. Life Health Oral hygiene brushing teeth. Yes, Really – Your Tongue Needs Brushing Too ...

Brushing your teeth is essential. If you’re skipping your tongue, you're missing a major part of oral hygiene. Your tongue can harbour bacteria and toxins that affect your breath, taste, and ...

But to mitigate bad breath, brushing your tongue with your toothbrush likely won’t cut it. Your toothbrush’s bristles are designed to clean teeth, not odor-causing bacteria on your tongue .

Brush teeth and gums at least twice a day. If you can, brush 30 minutes to 1 hour after every meal. Brushing removes plaque, a film of bacteria that clings to teeth.

The tongue maintains direct communication with the brain through multiple cranial nerves, most notably the hypoglossal, facial, glossopharyngeal, and vagus nerves.

Tongue scraping is the process of running a simple tool across your tongue to remove bacteria, food particles, and other debris from the surface. It's been around for hundreds of years, with ...

Dentist Dr. Arash Ravanbakhsh shares five common mistakes people make while brushing their teeth — they lead to weakened enamel, gum damage, and bad breath. Primary Menu Sections US News ...