You brush. You floss. That’s all well and good, but you shouldn’t forget that the bacteria in your mouth is clinging to more than just your teeth. This is why our Lynnwood dental clinic advises that you remember to clean your tongue as a regular part of your oral hygiene routine.

Indeed, your tongue has as much potential to harbor the bacteria that cause decay and bad breath as your teeth do. You can work to clean this bacteria away simply by gently brushing at your tongue with your toothbrush.

Tongue Scraper

Most people find the brush a little uncomfortable on the tongue, particularly when trying to reach back towards the throat, so it may be worthwhile to get yourself a proper tongue scraper. Such scrapers are available in many dental care aisles, and are designed to clean your tongue with the even pressure that you can’t get with a brush.

A good antibacterial mouthwash can help to kill off bacteria on your tongue as well, but a tongue scraping is the only way to clear off the detritus and dead cells that are also gathering on your tongue surface.

Whitening Toothpaste

Have you ever considered whitening toothpaste as an alternative to the professional whitening treatments of our Lynnwood dental clinic? If you have, you may want to think again. Not only can no at-home product truly replicate the kind of treatment you can get with an in-office whitening, but so-called “whitening” toothpastes may in fact be doing as much harm as good.

If you have a whitening toothpaste in your cabinet, take a close look at the label. It’s probably telling you that it whitens your teeth “by removing surface stains”.

This essentially means that it’s doing the equivalent of blotting the red wine off of your carpet before it settles into the fibers, which is all well and good until you realize that you’re still stuck with the wine that has already soaked in.

Teeth Stain Removal

To remove actual, deep-rooted stains, you need powerful agents that cannot be delivered in toothpaste form; bleaching agents in toothpaste get rinsed away too quickly to do any good, and ultimately only serve to make your paste surprisingly abrasive. Do the right thing for your teeth, and have them whitened in a professional setting.

Teeth Whitening at Song Dental in Lynnwood

Our office provides in-office laser whitening and take-home whitening systems. If you have any questions or concerns about teeth whitening, please contact our office.

What is bleachorexia? This is the word given to the phenomenon wherein people become obsessed with whitening their teeth. Such people, called bleachorexics, are actually inflicting serious harm to both the appearance and health of their mouths, and our Lynnwood dental clinic wants to advise you against succumbing to this practice of over-whitening.

The chemicals in your tooth whitener are quite harsh on your mouth and, though you’re unlikely to see any side effects with a well-timed whitening routine, a failure to wait long enough between whitenings can do some serious damage. Your gums become irritated and can start to break down. Your enamel becomes compromised, leaving your teeth brittle and sensitive. Eventually your teeth may stop turning white and actually take on a translucent or blue appearance. It is for these reasons that you want to take care with whitening your teeth, and preferably seek out professional in-office treatments for your whitening needs.