Category Archives: Dental Care at Home

Father and child practicing good home dental habits brushing teeth

Best Home Dental Habits

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Everyone knows that the key to a healthy mouth is a daily routine of brushing and flossing. You should also visit your local dentist in downtown Los Angeles for regular checkups and deep cleanings to ensure that there are no serious dental problems building up in secret. But on most days, you should engage with the best home dental habits to keep oral health issues at bay.

Best Home Dental Habits

Let’s review some of our favorite at-home dental habits that can keep you on the path to good oral hygiene for the rest of your life. As some of the most common medical issues around the world, tooth infections and cavities only get worse over time if you don’t properly treat them. Here are some steps you can take at home to make sure your teeth never get that bad!

Brush – and Don’t Forget to Floss

The core part of your daily routine includes brushing your teeth, but the maintenance shouldn’t stop there. It is also important to floss to get rid of plaque and tartar that may have built up in between your teeth. These are tight and hard-to-reach spaces that the toothbrush can’t reach. And according to the ADA and the CDC, you should floss your teeth once per day to prevent a buildup of bacteria.

Invest in Mouthwash

Still looking for that extra bit of cleanliness after you have brushed and flossed? There’s one more thing you can do on the regular: Use mouthwash! This is a good way to flush out those extra bits of bacteria that might not have gone away with the brush. Additionally, mouthwash can keep other dental issues like gingivitis and even hard plaque at bay.

Use More Fluoride

There are a lot of reasons why toothpaste and mouthwash products can effectively clean your teeth, but the biggest reason is fluoride. This chemical is very good for your teeth as it helps to kill bacteria while washing away any other unsavory particles. It is essential that you invest in tooth-cleaning products that contain fluoride. In fact, products without fluoride cannot protect you against cavities. If you are actively looking for ways to keep your teeth clean at home, you must get your hands on some products that contain fluoride.

Try to Stop Smoking

Nobody is at fault for forming a bad habit. A lot of people smoke, and it’s the effort to stop smoking that can really make a difference. Over time, tobacco and nicotine can inhibit your body’s immune system and make it more difficult for you to recover from dental maladies. If you have to get dental treatment, recovery from the procedure could be a lot slower as well.

Visit Your Dentist Regularly!

Maintaining your dental health at home is vital to your overall health. You should also check in with your local experts at least every 6 months for a full examination. A certified dental hygienist can clean your teeth and perform x-rays to get a deeper look at what’s going on underneath the surface. If there are any issues such as cavities or plaque, they will be resolved right away. We recommend visiting your dentist twice a year, but you may need to visit more, depending on your individual needs.

Practice the Best Home Dental Habits Every Day

The best way to prevent dental maladies is to protect your teeth as best as you can. This includes a daily routine of brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash that contains enough fluoride to combat bacteria and waste. It is also a good idea to visit your dentist every few months for a checkup and additional treatment if needed. Learn more about preventative dentistry in Los Angeles when you get in touch with our pros at Samaritan Dental Arts today!

Woman showing off bright smile after following habits for healthy teeth.

Best Habits for Healthy Teeth

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There is a reason why famous people always have perfect teeth. They weren’t born that way; they have to go through daily oral hygiene routines to maintain their health. And that’s what you should be doing, too. You should always be taking care of your teeth and gums in order to prevent disease. Let’s look at the best habits for healthy teeth.

Best Habits for Healthy Teeth

Your local DTLA dentist can help you get on track with the best habits for healthy teeth. Use the tips below to work on your celebrity smile!

Invest in Fluoride Toothpaste

You should brush with a dentist-approved toothpaste with fluoride in it. Fluoride helps get rid of bacteria and plaque that can build up on your teeth after you eat. Fluoride also contributes to tooth whitening as it can remove sticky substances. After you’re done brushing, the fluoride will leave a protective layer over your teeth to protect it against further bacterial invasion.

Floss Every Day

Many people tend to ignore flossing as an important part of the daily dental health routine. But flossing is just as imperative as brushing when it comes to long-term care. It is too easy for food to get stuck between your teeth, causing bacterial buildup as it sits there. Without flossing, you cannot remove these bits of food and bacteria.

Not to mention, flossing can also help reduce inflammation in the gums by stimulating the surrounding tissues. Flossing is a healthy practice that you should get into the habit of doing at least once per day.

Brush Diligently – But Not Roughly

It’s no secret that you should brush your teeth every day. But did you know that there is such a thing as brushing too hard? If your movements are too aggressive, you could be doing more harm than help for your teeth. Rigid bristles can scratch your gums and cause them to bleed, paving the way for infection.

A proper brushing technique should involve small circular motions on all sides of the teeth. Make sure not to press too hard or else you could strip away your enamel (the outermost layer of your teeth).

Use Mouthwash

You can improve your oral health with the use of a mouthwash after you brush and floss. Make sure you are using a dental-approved mouthwash that contains chemicals such as chlorhexidine, which adds an antibacterial agent to your teeth. This can protect against gingivitis, gum disease, and other life-threatening bacterial infections. Mouthwash should not be the only product you use in the mornings, but it is a great addition to your daily routine.

Schedule a Regular Dental Appointment

You should visit your local dentist once or twice per year for a thorough cleaning and dental exam. It’s a good idea to take advantage of professional tools and products that can scrape away the plaque that your regular toothbrush can’t. Dental appointments are also important for preventative care, as an exam can identify the early signs of decay or disease.

You should schedule a routine checkup every 6 months with your local professionals. During your appointment, you can get plaque and tartar removed from your teeth while your overall health is assessed using X-ray equipment. Depending on your preexisting oral hygiene issues, you may need to visit your dentist more frequently. One trip to the office can save the state of your oral health!

Prevent Dental Health Issues Today

It’s time to schedule an appointment for preventative dentistry in LA. Get in the habit of taking care of your teeth every day to keep unhealthy bacteria at bay. Learn more about the health benefits of a regular dental visit by getting in touch with our friendly experts at Samaritan Dental Arts today. We look forward to helping you earn a healthy smile!

Woman holding both hands against jaw, pained expression, lying down

How Teeth Grinding Can Ruin Your Teeth

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Your teeth consist of many layers that keep them strong and healthy. Enamel is the outermost layer of your teeth, and it is responsible for protecting your teeth against the outside world. Without enamel, your teeth would wear and tear much too easily. Excessive pressure can wear down your enamel and put you in danger of dental damage. This is but one way teeth grinding can ruin your teeth.

There are several risks of teeth grinding that your local DTLA dentist wants to warn you about. It’s important to know how teeth grinding can ruin your teeth so you can get the help you need to stop your bad grinding habits right away.

Causes of Tooth Grinding

Tooth grinding, also known as bruxism, is a common condition that often turns into a bad habit. When you constantly push or gnash your teeth together, you are causing potential harm to your mouth.

Common causes of tooth grinding include:

  • Anxiety
  • Stress
  • Medication overreaction
  • Pain
  • Bad dreams

A lot of people find out that they are grinding teeth overnight, which is a common ailment. While it is frustrating to feel out of control of your tooth grinding habit, there are treatments available that can keep you from letting this habit happen while you sleep.

Ultimately, tooth grinding is dangerous for your teeth. There are many dangers posed by bruxism.

How Teeth Grinding Can Ruin Your Teeth

Excessively grinding your teeth can lead to some bad oral health habits. Let’s take a look at the worst risks you are facing when you grind your teeth:

Chips and Cracks

When you grind your teeth, you are greatly wearing down the enamel that protects your teeth from damage. This makes it easy for your teeth to chip and crack over time. Your teeth will become brittle and it will be more difficult to repair them if they sustain permanent damage.

Abfraction

Abfraction refers to the loss of tooth matter by the base of the tooth. Depending on your pattern of tooth grinding, you may find that you have significant tooth loss in areas that were once supporting healthy bone structure.

Gum Recession

An unfortunate result of excessive tooth grinding is gum recession, which occurs when your teeth damage your gums. The grinding action slowly pulls teeth out of their position in the gums, opening a gateway to infection and gum disease. Gum recession indicates many different oral health issues, and it is important to seek dental treatment right away.

TMJ

TMJ disorder describes the pain or stiffness in the joints that connect the upper and lower jaw. These joints are located just below your temples and can cause many uncomfortable symptoms, such as migraines, constant pain, and the inability to open your mouth all the way.

Attrition

Your teeth wear away at each other over time the more you grind them. You’ll eventually grind the top part of your teeth down, making it harder for you to bite or chew things. Damage done to the surface or the “biting” part of the teeth is known as attrition.

Best Tooth Grinding Treatments

It can be hard to break a bad habit, especially when you perpetuate that habit subconsciously. How do you stop grinding your teeth if you do it in your sleep?

While it takes time to get rid of the action, you can protect your teeth against further damage in the meantime. Mouthguards are specifically designed to shield your teeth against each other.

You can wear mouthguards at night while you sleep, so in the event your teeth want to grind, you are at least providing a rubber barrier so they do not cause harm to your dental structure. Further treatments can be discussed with your specialist after you have worn a mouthguard for a while.

Stop Grinding Your Teeth!

Get the best treatments and mouthguards Downtown Los Angeles has to offer. At Samaritan Dental Arts, we are passionate about restoring your mouth to good health. For inquiries about the dangers of tooth grinding, and to schedule a consultation with our specialist, get in touch with our staff right away.

Graphic of bruxism, high angle of lower jaw, teeth are worn down by grinding

How to Stop Grinding My Teeth!

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One of the biggest reasons why our adult patients schedule visits with us is because they are experiencing pain in their teeth or jaw. While many issues could lead to symptoms of pain, one of the most common is bruxism: the grinding of the teeth. You might ask: how do I stop grinding my teeth?

First, you may be grinding your teeth every day without even knowing about it. For many people, grinding the teeth is a way to deal with stress subconsciously. Some people also grind their teeth while they sleep.

It’s not surprising that this excessive grinding can lead to pain and tension throughout the teeth. If not stopped, it can also damage teeth. At Samaritan Dental Arts, we want our patients to understand how serious teeth clenching can be, and some of the best ways to stop this subconscious habit.

Why We Grind Our Teeth So Much

The biggest reason why someone would grind their teeth so much is due to stress and worry. An NHS study states most people grind their teeth while they sleep, so it can be difficult to tell whether you are a tooth-grinder.

While some people with bruxism are asymptomatic, it is common for people who grind daily to feel symptoms of pain in the head, neck, jaw, and face. Bruxism is a common disorder, but it can lead to more serious such as TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder).

How to Stop Grinding Teeth – Even During Sleep

What are some of the best methods to stop grinding your teeth? How can you get rid of this bad habit if you aren’t even conscious when you’re doing it?

Thankfully, there are a few methods you can employ to try and stop yourself from grinding your teeth so much. Try out some of our dentist-approved ideas below:

1. Avoid Stimulating Foods and Drinks Before Bed

Try not to consume anything stimulating for a few hours before your bedtime. This includes drinks like coffee, alcohol, and soda, as well as foods that contain chocolate and other sugar-filled treats.

These items can severely affect your sleep since their ingredients make your body want to burst with energy. You want to start focusing on things that can help your mind and your body wind down before it’s time to go to bed. Better quality sleep can help prevent you from tossing, turning, and grinding your teeth at night.

2. Invest in a Mouth Guard

One of the best possible solutions that can have the best results involves scheduling an appointment with your trusted local dentist. During your appointment, you can be fitted for a custom mouth guard or mouth splint. This is something soft that you would wear at night to prevent your tooth-grinding habits from having such a negative effect on the rest of your body. It doesn’t get rid of the bruxism, but it provides a shield to keep the rest of you from getting hurt.

3. Get a Muscle Relaxer

In more severe cases where the bruxism has developed into some symptoms of pain for your mouth, you may need to get a muscle relaxant to relieve all of that tension building up in your jaw. You can consult with your dentist to get a medically-prescribed relaxant. There may be some other muscle-relaxing solutions that you can work with your dentist and your primary care doctor to acquire.

What Can Bruxism Lead To?

If you have already been grinding your teeth for a long time without any intervention, you may be suffering from a myriad of symptoms. Most commonly, you will feel headaches and tension in the jaw all along your mouth. Your teeth may also become sore and loosened over time. Cracks can appear in the teeth if you clench down for too long.

Other symptoms of grinding your teeth can include:

  • Disruption of regular sleep patterns
  • Tired jaw muscles
  • Jaw locking or not being able to open and close all the way
  • Damage on the inside of your cheek from biting down
  • Worn down tooth enamel
  • Fractured or chipped teeth
  • Increased pain in the mouth
  • Headaches in the temples
  • Soreness in the face, neck, or jaw

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, or if you notice yourself grinding your teeth during times of stress, it’s important to seek dental care right away.

Take Care of Your Teeth Before It’s Too Late!

Your grinding habits may seem harmless at first, but they can have some devastating long-term effects. It can be challenging to break this habit, especially since so much of it happens while you are asleep. But with help from our friendly experts at Samaritan Dental Arts, we can come up with a solution that will reduce the effects of grinding and help you get your daily life back on track. For more information, contact us online or give us a call at (213) 986-2933 to schedule a consultation.

Woman holding hand to face for sore gums

Why Do Your Gums Hurt?

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Do you wake up with sore gums? Do your gums bleed when you brush your teeth? Have you been dealing with oversensitive gums for a very long time?

Experiencing pain in the gums is irritating and stressful. And, unfortunately, it is not too uncommon. If you are dealing with sore gums, you aren’t alone. In fact, there are Downtown Los Angeles dentists with a specific focus on treating gum pain and health.

Acknowledging that you have gum pain is the first step in getting treatment, but before any issues can be resolved, it’s important to understand why they are hurting in the first place. Let’s go over some of the common causes and reasons for sore gums and gum pain.

Gum Disease

Also known as gingivitis, gum disease is a common reason for pain and inflammation. If left untreated, gingivitis can develop into a more advanced stage of the condition known as periodontal disease. Within the past decade, the CDC recorded that over half of American adults have a type of gum disease.

If it’s caught early and diagnosed as gingivitis, you can invest in a routine brushing and flossing practice to get rid of the symptoms. Your dentist may also prescribe a medicated mouthwash to help you clean out your mouth. If you have periodontal disease, you should seek the help of our periodontal treatment specialists.

Rough Hygiene

Cases of pain in the gums don’t always turn out to be as serious as a disease diagnosis. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of brushing and flossing too hard. You may have been taught that a good thorough brushing is the best way to stay clean, and that’s true, but it doesn’t mean that you need to scrub intensely around your mouth.

Try getting a new toothbrush with softer bristles, as they can get the job just as good as coarse bristles.

Plus, softer brushes are even recommended by the ADA for your hygiene and comfort.

Poor Diet

Crest lists a poor diet as one of the major causes of pain in the gums. This is especially evident when there is a lack of calcium in your daily nutrition, as it can cause the teeth to weaken, which in turn affects the gums. Likewise, a lack of Vitamin C can compromise your immune system, meaning that your gums can’t protect themselves as well as they might be able to if you had a C-rich diet. Try adding more vitamins and minerals to your daily diet routine so you can strengthen your teeth and gums against decay.

Allergies

In some cases, you may be having an allergic reaction to a dental hygiene product or a certain type of food. It can be difficult to discover that you’re allergic to the toothpaste you use, but it very well may be the cause of hurting gums. An unknown food allergy can also cause the gums to be painful or sensitive.

The best way to find out what you are allergic to is to isolate certain foods or dental substances for one month at a time. That way, you’ll be able to find out what’s causing your gums to hurt. Keep track of the way your gums feel during this time so you know whether to rule out other possible causes.

Assess the Health of Your Gums ASAP!

When your gums are feeling painful or sensitive, there’s no time to waste. Holding off on treatment can cause some serious dental issues that will make recovery more difficult down the line. Whether you have gingivitis, or you just need to learn how to invest in a new hygiene routine, our expert dentists at Samaritan Dental Arts are here to help. To make an appointment with our gums specialists, you can contact us online or give us a call at (213) 986-2933. We look forward to treating your sore gums!

Woman chewing on ice cube

Does Chewing on Ice Hurt Your Teeth?

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Your teeth are some of the strongest parts of your body – but also some of the most sensitive. They are responsible for a lot of actions that make your life comfortable and survivable. We often take our teeth for granted, and we don’t usually realize how much we rely on them for many aspects of our daily life, including eating, speaking, and smiling.

At Samaritan Dental, we take teeth seriously, and we want to help you take them seriously, too. Since we use our teeth so frequently, we tend to develop habits surrounding them as well. Some are good habits – like brushing every day – while others may not be so beneficial to our long-term health. If you need to see a dentist in Downtown Los Angeles, do not hesitate to reach out to Samaritan Dental today!

One such habit involves chewing on ice. We have all done this before, especially when enjoying a nice cold drink on a hot day. But when it becomes a habit, is chewing on ice something to worry about?

Let’s talk about the risks of chewing on ice.

Why Chew Ice?

First, we must understand what compels people to chew on ice so frequently. There are many different reasons why someone may find themselves forming a habit around chewing ice. A Medical News Today story reports these major underlying conditions that cause us to crave ice:

  • Stress and emotional issues – It may be soothing to chew on something as a means of reducing stress or nerves.
  • OCD – Someone with obsessive thoughts can find chewing ice a good solution to satisfy those behaviors.
  • Anemia – Otherwise known as an iron deficiency, those with anemia are often compelled to chew ice, although nobody is sure why.
  • Dehydration – Always being thirsty or having a dry mouth can cause someone to want to chew ice to cool them down.

There are other causes and conditions as well, some of them more severe than others. But the most common reasons for feeling compelled to chew ice often have underlying symptoms that can be treated respectively.

Issues with Chewing on Ice

Now let’s talk about the ways in which constantly chewing on ice can hurt your teeth. Keep in mind that there are different shapes and consistencies of ice, and the harder the ice cube, the more damage it will do to your pearly whites.

Tooth Damage

Although chewing ice is a fairly common habit and mindless activity, it can do a lot of irrevocable damage to the teeth. Teeth are at risk for being chipped, broken, and ground down by hard ice cubes constantly crushing against them.

Stripped Enamel

The American Dental Association lists chewing ice cubes as one of the worst habits for your teeth. Enamel is just as hard as ice, and when these two substances rub together, they break each other down.

The ADA suggests switching to cold beverages without any ice cubes to reduce your frequency of indulging in this habit.

Increased Sensitivity

Continuously exposing your teeth to freezing temperatures can cause an imbalance in sensitivity, making you much more affected by hot and cold foods in the future.

Habit-Breaking Alternatives

At Samaritan Dental, we believe every problem has a solution. Multiple solutions, in fact! Here are a few suggestions that might help you break this bad habit once and for all.

Make it Slushy

Crushed ice is better than whole ice cubes. Really soft, slushy ice that pretty much becomes water by the time it hits your teeth is an ideal alternative to the big frozen crystals, and it still satisfies your need to crunch something.

Use Inedible Ice Cubes

You can find alternatives to ice cubes that you can’t put in your mouth. Some stores sell plastic balls that can be frozen and then plopped into your drinks, helping to keep your beverage cool without compelling you to eat it. Or, you can use a frosted glass!

Switch to Healthy Snacks

Sometimes you just crave something crunchy. That’s totally natural, but instead of continuing to munch on ice, switch to something like carrots or apple slices. That way, you are eating real food that provides you with nutrients and doesn’t put your teeth at risk for breaking.

Assess Your Oral Health Today!

Are you ready to nip your bad habits in the bud? Our friendly professionals can help! At Samaritan Dental, your smile is our passion. For more information about our services, including emergency dentistry, please contact us online or give us a call at (213) 986-2933 today!

Closeup of woman's mouth, smiling, biting tooth

Biting Your Lip (Or Tongue) in Your Sleep? When to Seek Help

Dental Care at Home

Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation or a meal when you suddenly bite your lip? What about your tongue? This frustrating and inconvenient occurrence is sure to send a twinge of pain down your spine. It’s annoying when it happens, and the sharp pain takes a while to go away.

 

But what happens when you do this while you’re asleep? You don’t respond to the pain since you don’t feel it. What’s to stop you from doing this multiple times? This is in fact a real problem that our experts at Samaritan Dental Arts have seen in both children and adults. Those who bite their tongues often are at risk for more serious conditions like infections, ulcers, and scalloping.

 

Here are some common causes, as well as the signs and symptoms of biting your lip or tongue during your sleep, and when to get help for this recurring problem.

Malocclusion

What is malocclusion? Well, it’s a fancy word for the misalignment of the teeth. Nobody is born with perfectly straight teeth, but some people have misalignments that can cause vast and repeating dental issues. Those with overbites or underbites, or crowded teeth, have a tendency to bite their lip and tongue much more frequently.

 

According to Medical News Today, there is also a more serious type of malocclusion known as temporomandibular disorder, also called TMD or TMJ. This affects the joint that connects the jaw to the skull, and it can also cause a misalignment of the teeth. Your teeth may also shift frequently during sleep, causing you to bite the inside of your mouth.

 

You should seek treatment for this issue if you wake up with:

 

  • Red or swollen lips/tongue
  • Sores on the lips/tongue
  • Inflammation in the mouth

 

Let’s take a look at some of the other symptoms, causes, and treatment options for this serious sleep habit.

Teeth Grinding

Do you suffer from bruxism – constant grinding or clenching of your teeth? You can be suffering from this for many reasons. Some of the causes or physical, while others may be psychological. People who are under a lot of stress tend to grind and clench their teeth without even realizing it. This often happens during sleep as well.

 

With teeth constantly shifting around like that, unchecked during sleep, you’re bound to bite your tongue and lips often. This can be a painful experience all around, but one that can also cause infection to spread.

 

If you frequently wake up with pain, cuts, or bruising, you should schedule an appointment with your dental professional right away.

Seizures and Sleep Apnea

On a more serious note, it’s possible that you may be struggling with nighttime seizures or even sleep apnea. Healthline makes it clear that sleep apnea is not a cause of biting the tongue, but it is a symptom often seen in tandem with the condition.

 

Nighttime seizures often cause patients to bite their tongues during sleep. Whether you suffer from a type of epilepsy or another kind of seizure, you might be unconsciously biting on your tongue and lips without even knowing it.

 

So, how can you get help with these symptoms? What can you do to help stop this bad unconscious habit?

 

At Samaritan Dental Arts, we provide a wide variety of solutions that are tailored to each and every patient. For some, it may be as simple as an investment in a smoking cessation program, as smoking can lead to many of the symptoms listed above. In other cases, you may need a CPAP machine to handle your sleep apnea. But no matter the cause, rest assured that you are in good hands.

Schedule Your Next Dental Appointment with Us!

Do the above situations sound familiar? Are you worried that you may be biting parts of your mouth during sleep? Or, perhaps you have other dental issues you need to get taken care of? Our friendly experts are here to help! Samaritan Dental Arts is available for patients of all ages on a 24/7 schedule. To learn more, contact us online or give us a call at (213) 986-2933. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Close-up of man brushing his tongue - should you be brushing your tongue?

Are You Supposed to be Brushing Your Tongue at Home?

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When we think of dental hygiene, we often just think of brushing, flossing, and using the occasional mouthwash. However, did you know that scraping or brushing your tongue is just as important for having a healthy mouth? Here’s why you should add brushing your tongue to your daily routine and some effective ways of doing so. If you are looking for a dentist in downtown Los Angeles, look no further! Samaritan Dental is here for your general and cosmetic dentistry needs.

Why Brush Your Tongue?

Have you ever taken the time to feel your tongue? If you have, you’ve probably noticed that it’s full of tiny little bumps and troughs. Like your teeth, these troughs are a perfect spot for bacteria to collect. When bacteria collects here in these troughs, they end up being transferred to your teeth just by basic movement from eating or talking.

The result of this bacteria can be cavities, gingivitis, and bad breath. In fact, not brushing your tongue is one of the main causes of bad breath in the dental hygiene world. By brushing or scraping your tongue, you rid yourself of this bacteria and the potential of harming your teeth and overall dental hygiene.

Benefits of Brushing Your Tongue

Brushing your tongue with a toothbrush or scraping it with a proper tongue-scraping tool can improve your dental hygiene in a number of ways:

  • Sense of Taste. Scraping your tongue twice a day can actually improve your sense of taste. All that build-up of bacteria prevents your taste-buds from being able to distinguish between flavors. Making sure that bacteria gets cleared away leaves room for flavor to affect your buds effectively!
  • Gets Rid of Bad Breath. Brushing your tongue wipes away all that bacteria that’s building up in your mouth and causing bad breath. This can also improve your social skills, as most people try to avoid talking to those with bad breath.
  • Improves Tooth Decay. The bacteria on your tongue also causes tooth decay. This is because it’s easily transferable from tongue to the tooth when talking or eating. If you’ve got a cavity problem, scraping your tongue may just be the thing you need!
  • Appearance.  Another benefit of brushing your tongue is that it improves its appearance. When we have a build-up of bacteria on our tongue, it can make it appear white. This is quite alarming for some. Brushing your tongue will help restore your tongue to its rightful, natural color.

How To Brush Your Tongue

There are many ways to clean your tongue, but few that are most effective. Perhaps the most effective way is by using a special tongue scraper or the back of a toothbrush that already has a built-in exfoliating pad. With either tool, you’ll want to stick your tongue out of your mouth first and start at the back. If this causes you to gag, you may want to start in the middle of your tongue until you get used to the sensation.

Never, ever use the scraper from the tip of your tongue to the back. This only pushes the bacteria further into your mouth. After every scrape, you’ll want to wipe off any coating or debris on a cloth or rinse it off in the sink before proceeding. If you skip this step, you risk just putting the bacteria right back in your mouth. After you’ve scraped your whole tongue, wash the scraper with warm water and soap.

Brushing your tongue is an important part of your dental hygiene. To find out more about how you can improve your oral hygiene at home or set up a routine dental check-up, please visit Samaritan Dental or give us a call at 213-986-2933.