The Benefits of Tongue Scraping & How to Start

Now, I can’t live without it.

I have never been the best at oral care. I always forget to floss and there have been nights when I go to bed without brushing — gross, I know. At the beginning of Covid, I decided to take responsibility for my health more than ever.

I started thinking of ways I could improve my immune system, overall wellbeing, and lifestyle to reflect a healthier one. Now, basically, a year later, I cannot go a day without scraping my tongue. I even bring my scraper on vacation with me!

After much research, I learned that many illnesses start in the mouth since we have over 6 million bacteria, including 700 different species that live there. It seems gross at first, but it’s completely normal. It has also been said that there are more germs in your mouth than in a toilet bowl!

What is it?

Tongue scraping is an ancient ayurvedic practice that originated between the 15th and 19th centuries.

Originally, it was a habit practiced by the wealthy. It is simply when you take a tool and run it over your tongue a few times to get all the gook, old food, and bacteria off, which is essential to cavity prevention and optimal oral hygiene.

It also improves the tongue’s appearance. When you scrape your tongue the first time, you will probably have a huge buildup of “white stuff” which is just bacteria, old food, and dead cells which get stuck on the tongue in between the papillae.

Please note that having gunk on the tongue in the morning is normal (of course not in excess.) During the night, our body sends all of the toxins up to the surface which is why we can further the detoxing by scraping it off and disposing of it.

A stainless steel or copper scraper will work best, and you should use it back to front as many times as you feel comfortable with. After each scrape, rinse the tool under hot water. It’s recommended use is at least twice per day after brushing but can be done even more frequently like after meals as well.

Some people just opt for a spoon, but I felt that triggered my gag reflex and decided to invest in an actual tongue scraper. Ayurvedic tradition suggests that the action of tongue scraping actually exists as a massage for your internal organs.

The particular design of the scraper was developed to massage the tongue in a specific way. For this reason, I would not recommend a spoon.

Daily Scraping

As you begin to scrape your tongue on a daily basis, you may notice that certain foods leave you with more gunk than others or you have more buildup at certain times of day.

For me, I notice a big difference depending on how late I have dinner at night. When I have dinner at 9 pm or later and thus drink less water before bed, there is more buildup.

You might experience a gag reflex at first, but not to worry — it lessens over time and with regular use. Also, it’s important to not scrape too hard. When I first started scraping my tongue, I did it too forcefully and I actually hurt myself.

For a few days, I was overly sensitive to foods and felt like everything was spicy. I was just so excited to scrape all the yuck off of my tongue that I went overboard with it.

Tongue scraping is not very widely used in modern society by the average person, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t incorporate it into our daily hygiene.

Happy scraping!

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