The Effect of Mechanical Tongue Cleaning on Oral Malodor and Tongue Coating

Ha-Na Choi, Young-Sik Cho and Jung-Wan Koo
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Ha-Na Choi: Department of Dental Hygiene, Jeonju Kijeon College, Jeonju 54989, Korea
Young-Sik Cho: Department of Dental Hygiene, Namseoul University, Cheonan 31020, Korea
Jung-Wan Koo: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Background: Mechanical tongue cleaning is an important oral hygiene procedure; it is known that a significant cause of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs), a major component of bad breath, is due to the bacteria coating the tongue. This study was conducted to identify the effect of mechanical tongue cleaning on reducing bad breath and tongue coating. Methods: Various mechanical tongue-cleaning methods were studied, including removing tongue coating using a toothbrush, removing tongue coating using a tongue scraper, and removing tongue coating using a toothbrush and a tongue scraper together. The results were as follows. Results: First, the organic bad breath measurement value after cleaning the tongue significantly decreased in the group using only the toothbrush, the group using only the tongue scraper, and the group using both the toothbrush and the tongue scraper. However, there was no difference between the groups. Second, after cleaning the tongue, the measured values of the tongue coating in the values of WTCI (Winkel’s tongue coating index) and Qray view were significantly reduced in all three groups, and there was no difference between the groups. Third, the gas measurement value in the oral cavity using a machine significantly decreased only the H 2 S value of the group using the tongue scraper immediately after the mechanical tongue cleaning. Conclusions: From these results, it can be confirmed that mechanical tongue cleaning is effective at reducing bad breath and tongue coating. However, in this study, there was no difference in the reduction effect according to the tools (groups) used for mechanical tongue cleaning. It can therefore be seen that wiping accurately from the rear of the tongue to the front is more effective at reducing bad breath and tongue coating.

Keywords: mechanical tongue cleaning; oral malodor; toothbrush; tongue coating; tongue scraper (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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