Has anyone ever advised you to scrape your tongue? This might seem like a very odd idea, but it does not seem so odd when we understand that the majority of the bacteria that cause bad breath actually live on the tongue in most cases. Though your tongue seems quite velvety and smooth to you, it actually has a very rough surface. It is covered with little mounds called papillae with grooves between them, and the papillae are covered with taste buds that enable you to enjoy the taste of your food. Oral bacteria are so small that all those little groves and channels between papillae and taste buds, are like the grand canyon to them - great places to live.

Many of the bacteria that live in our mouths are harmless commensals - they live their lives and cause us no trouble. A few, however, can cause odor trouble if there are too many of them. These bacteria are anaerobes, bacteria that live in environments deprived of oxygen. They not only dislike oxygen, but will actually die if they are exposed to it - another reason why they like the hidden canyons in your tongue: there's less air down there. Typically, a layer of non-cellular material coats the tongue to give them even better cover. They are so well protected down there that they are hard to dislodge unless you do something specific, like scrape your tongue.

What makes these anaerobes so undesirable is their habit of producing a terrible smell when they break down protein. There's no lack of protein in your mouth: it's found in antibodies and other molecules in saliva, in dead skin cells that have sloughed off the oral lining, in red and white blood cells and inflammatory cells that are often found in the mouth, and in tiny particles of food left in your mouth after you have eaten. Anaerobic bacteria need protein in order to live: they break down protein, producing foul-smelling volatile sulfur compounds as a byproduct of their digestion.

Even if you are using a good antibacterial mouthwash that kills bacteria, it's very helpful to scrape your tongue. This dislodges many bacteria so that they are physically removed from the tongue, and removes the layer of protective material so that oxygen and antibacterial ingredients in the mouthwash can reach the bacteria. Though a few organisms will always remain, if you both scrape your tongue and use a good oral rinse product, their number swill be vastly reduced, and your breath will be proportionally more pleasant.

Scrape your tongue with a teaspoon held upside down so that the rounded edge contacts the surface of the tongue. Alternatively, buy a commercial tongue scraper - some are simple scraping devices, while others come with removable pads that gently scrub the tongue and deliver antibacterial substances to the surface. The first time you try it, you will be surprised how much material can be removed this way.