What Is Tongue Scraping (...and HOW Do You Actually Do It?!)

Tongue Scraping: maybe you’ve heard of it…

orrrrrrr maybe I sound crazy (scraping your tongue?!?!), but regardless of if you’re familiar or not, it is TIME to learn all the details & get started with this holistic habit!

Recently, I shared a snippet of tongue scraping on my instagram story and was instantly flooded with questions about this little regimen— so I figured it was time to share!

Personally, I have been tongue-scraping for literal yeeeears at this point, but realized I’ve never shared a concrete resource on it. And it’s TIME. This little habit part of my morning and evening routine whenever I brush my teeth and is such a powerful (and holistic) way to support oral health (annnnnd make sure your breath smells FRESH).

Without further ado, you are enrolled in “Tongue Scraping 101” with Kate Eskuri!

what is tongue scraping?

Simply put— tongue scraping is the act of using a simple metal tool to “scrape” the tongue and remove any debris.

Tongue scraping is a traditional practice that has been around for centuries in India, Europe, Africa, and South America… but it remains largely under-utilized in the U.S. (and I hope this blog post helps change that!) Because this simple (yet impactful) practice has stood the test of time and still is valuable today!

I first learned about it from my studies of Ayurvedic medicine (a beautiful, traditional health approach to health that has been around thoooousands of years). In Ayurveda, the tongue and its condition is a major indicator of a state of health and is considered crucial for overall health functioning so they pay a lot of attention (and care!) to the tongue itselt!

…and tongue scraping is one of the main holistic practices Ayurvedic practitioners utilize to help support the tongue, oral health, and digestion.

While originally rooted in beautiful tradition, this practice is also backed by modern-day science! As we all know, the oral cavity is home to bacteria (both good and bad), and these various chemical compounds can either support good breath and oral health… or fight it.

Because that “film” on your tongue is about so much more than just good breath or not— it actually impact your health on a larger scale. How so? Well, we know scientifically that the tongue is the first stage of digestion.

Simply put, certain chemicals of the foods we consume work as a “signal” to the rest of the body when we eat to kickstart digestion— if we eat carbs, the amylace enzyme in saliva starts the digestion process, if we eat fat the saliva enzyme lingual lipase kickstarts the breakdown of the fat, and so on.

Why does this matter? Because our tongue is what “receives” these messages (if it is clean and not built up with particles blocking these messages!). Ayurveda acknowledges this constant intercommunication between our tongue, taste, digestion, and the rest of our health functioning— and tongue scraping helps to easily remove any coating that could possibly be interfering with that innate connection.

isn’t brushing my tongue enough?

Here’s the thing— the tongue can get DIRTY.

While it may appear to be alll nice ‘n’ smooth, the tongue is actually sooooooo textured— and its crevices, taste buds, and texture are a perfect place for bacteria and food particles to collect and “hide” unless it is removed. (if you’ve ever seen your tongue tint purple after drinking red wine or brown after coffee, you can SEE that the tongue does readily collect build-up! but this “build up” is happening allllll day every day— even if we aren’t outwardly noticing a color change)

So, you may be wondering… “but what if I already brush my tongue? isn’t that enough???”.

A common misconception is that using a toothbrush on your tongue is just as effective as using a tongue scraper. However, evidence support that tongue scrapers remove up to 30 percent more volatile sulfur compounds (AKA the things that can cause bad breath) on the tongue than a toothbrush! 10 points for tongue scraping!

While this is an ancient practice, as you’ll see below, it is backed by modern evidence (we love to see it!!). Long story short— tongue scraping WORKS in reducing food particle build up, reducing the anaerobic bacteria that cause bad breath, and can be a really simple & holistic habit to add to your oral and mouth-care regimen!

[evidence-backed] benefits of tongue scraping:

While I could go on a fulllll ramble here, here is the quick ‘n’ dirty bullet points on the benefits of tongue scraping—

1. tongue scraping significantly reduces volatile sulfar compounds of the mouth by up to 50% (these are the chemical compounds that are linked to bad breath! reduced by 50%! yes please!) (source)

2. tongue scraping for 7 days signficantly reduced bacteria counts in the mouth and signficantly reduced malodor of breath. (source)

3. tongue scraping greatly outperforms tooth brushing at removing volatile sulfar compounds from the tongue. Tongue scraping removed 75% of volatile sulfar compounds, while brushing the tongue only removed 45% (source)

4. tongue scraping can improve the actual taste sensation by reducing tongue coating and allowing for a more vivid experience of flavors (source)

5. in ayurveda, tongue scraping is thought to support “digestive fire” and detoxification, bowel elimination, etc.. studies show that after introducing tongue scraping, study participants had an improvement in constipation symptoms (this is thought to happen by stimulating the tongue’s nerve endings and associated internal organs.) (source)

6. those that tongue scraped for 2 weeks consistently had a significant improvement in taste sensation and a significant reduction in white coating of tongue (source)

my personal experience with tongue scraping

I personally started tongue scraping over 3 years ago.

What I noticed? better breath, a cleaner tongue (no yucky white film for me!), and improved taste sensation. And just a general feeling that my mouth was CLEANER. more fresh. it’s hard to describe, but i really did notice a tangible difference once I started getting consistent with tongue scraping. Now, I can’t live without it!

To make incorporate this into my existing oral routine, I “habit stacked” it onto my tooth brushing regimen, and now it’s just second nature! Along with my regular tooth brushing routine, I just take an extra 45 seconds or so to tongue scrape before or after I brush my teeth, and that’s that! I do it both morning & night :) It’s so simple!

(that said… if you feel any tongue irritation at all, I would just do once per day (not twice per day) while your tongue adjusts! I’ve never had any issues with 2x daily, but just wanted to make a note that some people do have to let their tongues “adjust” to the scraping sensation!)

okay, here is how to do it (it’s SUPER easy!)

Alright, here’s the thing. Tongue scraping is EASY! Don’t overcomplicate it :) Here’s the scoop—

1. Order the tongue scraper of your choosing (i personally use this one!)

2. After brushing your teeth (or before if you prefer. It doesn’t really matter), stand in front of a mirror, open your mouth, and stick out your tongue.

3. Take your tongue scraper and set the edge rounded at the back of your mouth (If you are worried about triggering your gag reflex, it’s totally fine to start at the middle of the tongue as you adjust and get used to the feeling!)

4. Using GENTLE pressure, “scrape” the metal tool forward towards the tip of the tongue. (You should ALWAYS start at the back of the tongue and scrape “forward” towards the tip of the tongue.)

5. Spit out any build up that the tool collects and rinse the tool with water between scrapes.

6. Work down the center of your tongue, the sides, etc., and repeat until you’ve scraped the entire surface of your tongue. This is typically only 2-3 “scrapes” per area for me!

7. Wash the tongue scraper with warm water after each use/swipe. Since the one is use is copper (and copper serves as a natural antimicrobial) a rinse with hot water is just fine! Then, every so often, I do a “deeper clean” with a gentle soap and/or alcohol swab— but this isn’t necessary on a daily basis as the copper is naturally antimicrobial so a thorough hot water rinse after each use is just fine!

8. The whole process should only take 1-2 minutes— it’s super simple & quick!

9. You just tongue scraped! Great job! It may take a few times to get the technique down and get used to the feeling, but just experiment and find the method that works for YOU :) enjoy!

which tongue scraper I use:

While there are a lot of plastic scrapers out there, I hiiiiighly recommend a metal option to reduce your exposure to micro-plastic that could break off during the scraping process. Furthermore, metal tongue scrapers generally last longer, are often dishwasher-safe, and have other beneficial properties.

While there are a variety of metal options, I personally selected a copper option because copper is a very bacteria-resistant metal (source). Furthermore, copper is thought to provide important enzymes that help support beneficial microbes in the mouth to survive (source). While you can’t really go wrong with any high-quality metal option of your choosing, I got this copper one from amazon since it has a little case (amazing for travel) and came with 2 (one for me and one for adam!).

here is the specific tongue scraper I use :)

to sum it up:

There ya have it! We allllll know ya girl Kate loves simple, time-efficient hacks that can boost our health and wellness— and I hope this showed you that tongue scraping is a SIMPLE and time-efficient health hack to support your oral health, digestion, annnnnd reduce bad breathe in the process ;)

See ya next time!
Kate

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