Oral diseases are one of the most common health problems in the world. Dental diseases are also connected with the development of other health disorders in the body. Brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash are not proven to be enough to prevent these diseases. Although they are extremely important to maintain oral health, they are not enough to remove bacteria from the mouth.
According to Ayurveda, tongue scraping is one of the most crucial practices to maintain oral hygiene. It helps to remove bacteria, prevent dental diseases, and maintain the overall health of the body.
What Is Tongue Scraping?
Also known as Jiwah Prakshalan, tongue scraping is a practice mentioned in Ayurveda to maintain oral hygiene and prevent many diseases and disorders in the body. In tongue scraping, a U-shaped tool or scraper is used for grazing the tongue and removing the bacteria from the surface of the tongue. It is a highly beneficial practice and can lend multiple benefits.
Why is the Tongue Important?
According to Ayurveda, the tongue is one of the most important organs of the body. Your tongue is not only an organ for taste and speech but also a reflector of your overall health. It is connected with various parts of the body and hence, helps to shed light on the health of all the other organs of the body. For example, the taste buds in the tongue are connected with the nerves of the body, the central part is connected with the pancreas, liver, and stomach, whereas the front part is related to the lungs and the heart organs. You can easily figure out the health of all these organs by looking at your tongue.
Why is Tongue Scraping Necessary to Maintain Oral Hygiene?
Enhances Taste
By removing dead cells from the surface of the tongue, tongue scraping helps to activate the taste buds. With enhanced taste buds, you experience a better sense of taste and adequately distinguish various types of states.
Reduces Bad Breath
Bacterias on the tongue are generally responsible for bad breath. These bacterias usually grow at night when the production of saliva is reduced. Tongue scraping removes these bacteria and reduces bad breath.
Improves the Appearance of the Tongue
The debris collected on the tongue can lend a white-coated appearance to your tongue. By removing this coating, you will be able to restore the natural pink color of your tongue.
Boosts Overall Oral Health
When you remove bacteria from the tongue, you prevent many dental problems such as infections, cavities, gum diseases, etc. Tongue scraping helps to maintain overall oral hygiene.
Removes Bacteria
The most important function of tongue scraping is to remove the bacteria that collect on your tongue’s surface. These bacterias are responsible for causing bad breath and dental diseases. If these bacterias or toxins slide back into your body, they may also cause many other diseases and disorders.
What are the Other Benefits of Tongue Scraping?
Improves Digestion
Not only does tongue scraping help in improving the oral health of the body, but it also helps in improving digestion. By stimulating the part of the tongue connected with the digestive system, you can improve digestion. Tongue scraping also helps in enhancing the sense of taste, thereby sending the correct signals to the brain and helping it to activate relevant enzymes.
Boosts Immunity
Toxin accumulation can weaken the immune system of the body. Tongue scraping helps to remove these toxins and boost immunity in the body.
Activates Internal Organs
Since different parts of the tongue are connected with different organs of the body, scraping the tongue aids in stimulating and activating various internal organs such as the pancreas, liver, stomach, etc.
Prevents Diseases
As the tongue reflects the health of the different organs, merely looking at the tongue can help us understand which organ is healthy and which is not. It indicates toxins accumulation in different parts of the body and prevents various diseases that would result from these toxins.
How to Scrape Your Tongue?
- Stick your tongue out and graze it with the help of a copper tongue scraper. You might have to exert a little force but don’t put pressure. Otherwise, you might hurt your tongue.
- Move the tongue scraper back to the front a couple of times. Remember to wash the tongue scraper after each round.
- Rinse your mouth with water after scraping the tongue 5-7 times.
- Clean and rinse your tongue scraper with water.
- You must try to scrape the tongue before drinking water in the morning so that the bacteria do not slide back into your body.
Takeaway:
Tongue scraping is one of the best practices to maintain oral hygiene. It not only prevents dental diseases but also maintains the overall health of the body. You must adopt this ancient practice today and boost your health with the help of your tongue.
