A tongue scraper (also called a tongue cleaner or tongue brush) is an oral hygiene device designed to clean off bacteria, food debris, fungi, and dead cells from the surface of your tongue. Tongue cleaning has been around since ancient times in India. During sleep when the body is resting, the digestive system works to detoxify itself. These toxins are deposited on the surface of the tongue via the internal excretory channels, and are responsible for the coating usually seen on the tongue first thing in the morning. Tongue scraping has found its way into Western society as folks discover the benefits of cleaning the tongue every day.
5 Reasons to Scrape Your Tongue Every Day
1. Improves the breath:
Removing the bacteria, food debris, fungi, and dead cells from the tongue significantly reduces the odor from the mouth. You may have been told to use your toothbrush for this purpose, but brushing the tongue does NOT efficiently remove all of the film that develops on the tongue. You will be blown away the first time you do this by the amount of gunk that comes off of the tongue.
2. Improves your ability to taste:
Removing build-up from the surface of your tongue will better expose your taste buds. This will lead to better enjoyment of the flavors of your food. Ayurveda teaches that the better we enjoy and savor our food, the better our bodies digest and assimilate, leading to better over all health. Also, Ayurveda teaches that blocked taste buds and tongue receptors interferes with our body’s ability to communicate with our brain about what types of foods we need to maintain our health, leading to false cravings.
3. Avoid toxins being reabsorbed into your body:
As you sleep, your body is detoxifying. Much of the film on your tongue is toxins excreted from your body. You don’t want to re-ingest that do you? NO! Scraping your tongue first thing in the morning will remove this sludge from your tongue and from your body, improving your over all health and improving your immune system.
4. Improves dental health:
By removing bacteria and toxins, you are also contributing to better dental health as well, leading to healthier teeth and gums. The bacteria that you remove from your tongue are responsible for things like periodontal problems, plaque build-up, tooth decay, gum infections, gum recession, and even loss of teeth.
5. Get to know your tongue:
Did you know your tongue is a mirror reflection of your internal organs? Just like with hand or foot mapping, the tongue is mapped out to reflect various parts of your internal body. You can learn so much about what is going on in particular areas just by looking at your tongue every morning. Also, by scraping your tongue, you are actually stimulating and massaging those corresponding internal organs, just like in acupressure or acupuncture.
Conservative Cavity Care: Small, tooth-colored fillings that remove as little enamel as possible so your teeth last longer.
Inlays & Onlays First: Bonded inlays/onlays as our go-to over crowns, preserving far more natural tooth structure.
Enamel-Sparing Crowns: When crowns are truly needed, we design them to leave up to 50% more natural enamel than typical approaches.
Save-Your-Teeth Reconstruction: In severe wear or erosion, we rebuild and stabilize teeth that many offices would extract for full-arch implants, often avoiding full-mouth removal.
Full-Arch Implants When Needed: All-on-X-style implant solutions for cases that genuinely require extractions-never a one-size-fits-all default.
Bite-Tuned, Long-Lasting Results: Every restoration is calibrated to your bite to reduce fractures and the cycle of redoing dentistry every few years.
Early Growth & Airway Evaluation — Age-appropriate screening for nasal breathing, tongue posture, crowding, and sleep-related issues.
Myofunctional Support (Early Intervention) — Train healthy habits (nasal breathing, tongue posture, lip seal, chewing/swallow) to guide growth and reduce future problems.
Guided Orthodontics — When needed, we time orthodontic treatment to growth to expand space, correct crowding, and help them catch up if development is behind.
One Team, Clear Roadmap — We coordinate with parents on what to do now, what to watch, and when to act next.
Prepless, conservative veneers: Transform your smile while preserving your natural enamel whenever possible.
Facially driven smile design & previews: Plan your smile around your face, lips, and profile-and use digital mockups/temporaries to try out your new look before anything is permanent.
Non-surgical "dental facelift": Improve facial support, fullness, and symmetry through thoughtful changes in bite and tooth position.
Additive cosmetic bonding: Repair chips and reshape worn edges without aggressive drilling.
Whitening & color harmony: Professional whitening and shade-matching that works with your natural teeth and restorations.
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Grateful to have landed at Downtown Dental, they’ve taken excellent care of me! Katy was very knowledgeable and helpful getting my oral health journey kick started. Bailey is also very gentle & kind if you are you looking to get your teeth cleaned.
Grant Arnold
2025-09-09
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I have been using downtown dental for several years now and Bailey has always taken good care of my teeth. She is knowledgeable and thorough in her work.
Diane Wheeler
2025-07-25
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The staff at Downtown Dental was very professional and efficient! My hygienist, Katy, did a great job on my cleaning and also explaining everything to me as a new patient. Their equipment was state-of the-art!
Laura S
2025-07-11
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This is the first dental office that’s actually been so thorough in my dental work and has taken time to really explain things to me about dental care—which says a lot! Katy has been a wonderful and this dental office has changed my outlook on dentist appointments as I know I am in good hands at this office!
bobbie swann
2025-06-12
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Parking behind bldg. For those hesitate about going dwntwn to Dentist. I had a very thorough consultation and various approaches to heal TMJ. I had prior TMJ treatment that was very costly, which did not resolve the pain/discomfort or flare ups. Very detailed and informative. Personable in explaining why I still had ongoing problems.
John Keefe
2025-05-02
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I am not the type of person that writes a bunch of Google reviews. However, I have to pass along a very well-earned 'atta boy to Downtown Dental. I trust these people, and genuinely feel like they are looking out for my dental health. I take care of my teeth, but I am grinding them down to nothing by clenching my teeth while I sleep. I have been working with Katy, who is awesome, and we're getting it all figured out. I'm happy I chose this place. If you're looking for a good dentist in Nashville, this is the spot.
Sherry Lloyd
2025-04-26
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I recently had my first experience with Dr. Clark, Katy, and the girls at the front desk. Everyone was so friendly and helpful and genuinely cares about how they can support each person‘s personal needs. Katy, the dental hygienist called me the day before and we had a wonderful chat as to what my needs would be, and really set the tone to to help me feel comfortable on my first visit the following day. Dr. Clark is so knowledgeable and has acquired special skills and technology to help with various needs that we might have to improve our well-being. I actually had fun and left feeling I was in extremely capable hands for the well-being of my teeth and dental needs.
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