Why Tongue Scraping alone won't work - and may damage your tongue!

Speaking about bacteria, there is one other fact that you must understand about these bacteria. They are classified as "Anaerobic" - which literally means "Without Oxygen". They thrive in an environment where Oxygen is NOT present. That is why they DO NOT LIVE ON THE SURFACE OF YOUR TONGUE!

They live in between the papillae (fibers) that make up your tongue! You can scrape all day and never get to the "home" of the bacteria. Researchers have told us that only 1-2% of the anaerobic bacteria end up on the tongue surface. That is why it's imperative that one uses an "oxidizing" agent, such as TheraBreath, in conjunction with a tongue cleaning device.

In fact, we have received numerous calls and letters from people who have purchased tongue scrapers thinking that this will be the answer to their breath problem. Out of frustration (and because scraping your tongue won't work), they start to scrape harder and harder until they notice that their tongue is bleeding or is extremely sore. Be careful, many of these devices are made of cheap plastic or sharp metal and can create permanent damage to your tongue!!

A Microscopic "Slice" through the tongue:

As you'll note in the diagram (above) the sulfur compounds are actually by-products of anaerobic bacteria (Fusobacterium and Actinomyces, among others) which do not breed on the surface of the tongue, but deep within the fibers of the tongue.

Everyone needs these bacteria, because they assist the digestion process. But, unfortunately, for some, as yet undetermined reason these particular bacteria are found in higher numbers in those anguished by Bad Breath. (Various theories attribute this to hormonal changes, a history of medications, usually antibiotics or sulfa drugs-which create an imbalance of oral bacteria, or even Genetics-these disorders appear to run in some families.) We do know however, that it seems to be evenly split between men and women.