‘This is as important as your teeth’: are you skipping this key part of mouth hygiene?

Dentists say ‘everyone needs to be educated about cleaning the tongue’. Here’s how it’s done It’s drilled into us from a young age: brush your teeth twice a day. But when it comes to oral health, experts say we’re leaving out something important. “Everyone needs to be educated about cleaning the tongue,” says Dr Maria Figueroa, a dentist and program director at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln. “This is as important as your teeth.” Adding another step to your routine may be a big ask. “I’ll be transparent: it’s very difficult just to get people to floss,” says Dr Thomas Salinas, a prosthodontist and chair of dental specialties at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done. Tongue cleaning is “a reasonable and helpful thing to do”, Salinas says. “We should be brushing and flossing our teeth and cleaning our tongues.” Brushing targets the teeth, and flossing targets the hard-to-reach areas between them. Doing both diligently reduces the risk of tooth decay and gum disease by removing the biofilm that collects on and around our teeth. Biofilm is a collection of bacteria, viruses and other debris, like food