Tongue cleaning essential for fresher breath

The best way to get fresher breath is not chewing gum or mints, but cleaning your tongue, according to one of the biggest brand names in the dental world.

According to Sameer Desai, group brand manager for healthcare corporation GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), many people do not realise that tongue cleaning is an essential part of a beauty and grooming routine.

“While traditional breath freshening sprays and chewing gum may address the situation temporarily, cleaning your tongue deals with the source of the problem – the bacteria on your tongue.”

GSK has launched the Aquafresh Flex Tooth & Tongue to encourage people to start cleaning their tongue. The dual-purpose brush combines X-Active plaque cleaning bristles on the front of the toothbrush head with innovative, rubber, tongue cleaning grooves on the reverse.

Desai said, “While we all have a daily cleansing and grooming routine, how many of us can say that cleaning our tongue is part of it?

“Yet in a recent survey, only a third of people had fresh breath – and it is so much easier to achieve than the perfect outfit or hairdo. Fresh breath can be achieved in just 30 seconds twice a day, which is a fraction of the time we spend on the rest of our routine.

“Fresh breath is the result of careful cleaning of teeth and tongue, and the bacteria on the tongue is the worst offender. Cleaning the tongue for 30 seconds a day removes five times as much bacteria as four minutes of toothbrushing.”

Desai pointed out that cleaning the tongue can also enhance taste sensations and is particularly beneficial for smokers, those who drink plenty of coffee, and those on the Atkins diet as the bacteria accumulates quicker.

The Aquafresh Tooth & Tongue is part of the Extreme Clean range from Aquafresh, which also includes a micro-active toothpaste.