What does a normal healthy tongue look like?

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About 60 to 80 percent of all bacteria that cause bad breath are found on the surface of the tongue. This is stated in a contribution by the German Society for Periodontology. Halitosis, as bad breath is called in medical jargon, can develop into a real personal burden and, in the worst case, even lead to social isolation. However, like bacterial coatings on the tongue, it can often be avoided and combated with a few simple tricks. In the following we would like to inform you about the functions of the tongue, what a healthy tongue should look like, what discolorations there are, what causes a brown tongue, for example, and what you can do to prevent plaque.

As one of our sensory organs, the tongue has numerous functions that will only be touched upon here. We refer to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Dentists, which states that the main functions of the tongue are distribution of food, cleaning of the oral cavity, speaking, swallowing, tasting and protection against harmful toxins or food.
A healthy tongue should be pale pink, moist, and slightly rough. A thin (!) white film that can be easily removed or will evaporate by itself is also normal. This coating is made up of leftover food, endogenous mucus, germs, papilla tips and old cells. It is not dangerous per se, but should ideally be removed daily when cleaning the tongue - if only to prevent unpleasant halitosis and to experience a fresh feeling in the mouth that you will no longer want to be without.

There are different colored coatings that primarily make the tongue unsightly, but at the same time can also provide information about possible diseases that are behind the signal colors. Temporary discoloration is usually completely harmless and can occur after eating blueberries, for example. It is important to correctly interpret permanent discolouration. An article in the Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung explains that a yellowish coating could indicate a gallbladder or liver disease. A brown tongue may be due to rare kidney diseases. A thick white coating, in turn, suggests a gastrointestinal disease or a viral infection, while a red tongue can be an indicator of malnutrition, for example. The list can be continued almost indefinitely. If you are interested, you can find out more about tongue problems and their possible causes in an article on the pharmacy portal of Deutscher Apotheker Verlag.
You should know that so many bacteria accumulate on the back of the tongue because the tongue offers numerous indentations due to its rough and hilly nature. Those harmful bacteria that do not need oxygen to survive feel particularly comfortable in these. Normal dental care by brushing your teeth does not address these bacteria on the surface of the tongue, so they can multiply undisturbed. This in turn leads to an increased risk of gum disease, which can lead to periodontitis, the inflammation of the periodontium. Tooth loss is one of the serious consequences of these infectious diseases, which is why optimized oral hygiene is essential.

Although brushing your teeth with a suitable toothbrush, toothpaste (preferably antibacterial) and dental floss for interdental spaces forms the basis of oral hygiene, it is not sufficient. In addition, you should definitely include a tongue-cleaning scraper in your daily oral hygiene routine.

This removes the inflammation-promoting bacterial coatings on the tongue gently, effectively and sustainably with its special nubs and lamellae. To ensure that the natural gag reflex does not hinder cleaning, a tongue scraper has a particularly flat shape, which offers a major advantage over a toothbrush. Using a tongue cleaner may take some getting used to at first, but it pays off after a short time. To clean your tongue, stretch it far out in front of a mirror and use the nubbed side of the tongue cleaner to apply antibacterial toothpaste to the back of your tongue. Then move the lamellar side of the scraper from the highest visible point on the back of the tongue to the tip of the tongue and in the process pull the bacterial plaque downwards. Proceed thoroughly but gently so as not to damage the sensitive papillae in the back third of the tongue and not to provoke the urge to gag. This process will prevent brown, white, or yellow tongues in most cases.