How to get rid of your white tongue!

Introduction

Your tongue! It’s the only organ of the body that allows you to indulge in the mouth watering flavours of your favourite foods.  It’s also one of the most complex organs with four zones that sense individual types of taste including bitterness, sweetness, sourness and saltiness. But sometimes, it can be coated in white fur which affects the taste buds on your tongue and promotes foul-smelling odours within your mouth.

In this blog, we are going to be talking about what this fur on your tongue really is, how it actually is caused and most importantly, how to get rid of it.

So without further ado, let’s get into those tongues!

‘What is the white stuff on my tongue?’

The fur on your tongue is a collection of ‘debris, bacteria and dead cells getting lodged between the enlarged and sometimes inflamed papillae’ (little bumps on the top of your tongue that help grip your food as you are chewing it) as stated by Mayo Clinic. This collection of bad bacteria is what promotes bad breath as the trapped fungi and bacteria allow for sulphur compounds to be released. These sulphur compounds are what causes bad breath and doesn’t allow you to taste those exquisite foods for all you foodies out there.

‘Why is my tongue white?’

So now that you understand what that white coating on your tongue is, as well as how and why it promotes bad breath, you might be wondering ‘what actually causes white tongue?’

There are a few reasons for this, including poor oral hygiene, smoking, as well as eating certain foods that contain pungent oils  in them such as ‘garlic and onions’ as Steven Dowshem says in his article “What causes bad breath” Which you can check out here.  These reasons are a little easier to combat if you have the right tools but we’ll get into that further down the blog.

At this point, some of you might be thinking that you don’t do any of these things and your oral hygiene is pretty top tier, but, you still have a white tongue. Well in that case, there could be other lying conditions such as Leukoplakia (which comes as a result of smoking, chewing tobacco or excess alcohol)  and/or  Oral thrush ( Which comes from conditions such as Diabetes, wearing dentures, weakened immunity, Vaginal Yeast Infections and/or medication that you may be taking). If you suspect it might be any of these conditions then it’s worth talking to your doctor about it to get it properly treated.

‘How do you get rid of a white tongue?’

So for those of you who have white tongue from poor oral hygiene there are a few ways to get that pinkish colour again. The most common is brushing your tongue, but what if we told you that there was a 30% more effective way to reach optimum tongue health? 

That’s right we are talking about tongue scraping. According to Rachel Nall from Health line ‘Researchers found that tongue scrapers removed 30 percent more volatile sulphur compounds on the tongue than a soft-bristled toothbrush.’

This is because the white debris on your tongue can become very spread out and if you are consistently brushing your tongue and not getting any results you might just be spreading it around even more, rather than just taking it off as Dr RX explains with a demonstration in this clip here.

This is why Tongue Scraping is so much more effective than brushing your tongue as it directly targets the fur on your tongue, actively removing it with every single scrape.  Now, to get the most time efficient tongue cleaner you want to go for one that has a wide surface area. Time efficient? Yes!  A wide tongue cleaner would mean that it only needs a few strokes to get rid of the debris on your tongue due to the surface area it provides, so you can carry on with your day as normal.  If you want to check out our wide award winning tongue cleaner here at drtungs then click here.

‘Why is this important?’

Let’s say you’re about to have one of your favourite dishes- maybe it’s a packet of Sensations Sweet Chilli crisps or some gourmet cheesy garlic bread from your favourite restaurant. You know it’s gonna wreak havoc with your breath but you don’t care because you want to treat yourself (no shame in that by the way! Food is meant to be enjoyed and you can check out our foodie traveller blog series about the best foods from the best restaurants on a road trip here)  Well now, you have realised you have to speak to your significant other/ client/ boss or someone important to your social circle and that indulgence of your favourite meal has just made their face crease with what seems like nausea.

So you think that you’ll just put some mints in your mouth or a piece of gum- easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. But the thing is, Chewing Gum just masks the actual scent and the sugary ones are harmful for your teeth. The Sugarless ones aren’t as tasty either and sometimes, it can just come across fairly rude to the person you’re talking to as ‘it makes them wonder whether they’re really listening’ as Kelechi Okeke states in their blog ‘3 Important Reasons You Should Avoid Chewing Gum At Work’

So what do you do instead? Go to the restroom, pull out your tongue scraper and do a few gentle scrapes on your tongue. ‘The entire process usually takes less than two minutes’ you’re back in your office or date with a much fresher smelling mouth that will last the entire night or meeting. You’re welcome.

Conclusion

So there you have it. The benefits of tongue cleaning- the good, the great and the amazing.

So if you are interested in checking out some amazing tongue scrapers then check out our award winning drtungs tongue cleaner. It’s made of stainless steel and has a party trick of being anti-gag. Oh did I also mention it comes with a pouch so you can take it anywhere (protected) and you can get it in four different colours?

Check out our drTungs tongue cleaner here.

If you found this blog useful then please leave a comment down below and once again feel free to check out our drTung’s tongue cleaner here.