Tongue coating and tongue brushing: a literature review

Abstract

The present paper reviews the role of the tongue as a habitat for oral microorganisms and the potential need for tongue cleaning as part of daily oral hygiene. In addition tongue coating is described. Many microorganisms have been found colonizing the dorsum of the tongue. Some studies find a positive effect to tongue brushing on bacterial counts on the tongue. On the other hand there are also studies that do not find any differences in bacterial counts before or after tongue brushing. Bacteria colonizing the tongue and periodontal pockets play an important role in the production of volatile sulphur compounds in periodontal health and disease. These compounds can be the cause of oral malodour. The amount of tongue coating in patients complaining of halitosis was significantly greater than in patients without halitosis. Tongue brushing on a regular basis, particular aiming at removing the coating on the dorsum of the tongue, has been found to be fruitful in reducing oral malodour. Studies investigating the role of tongue brushing and plaque accumulation or gingival inflammation show conflicting results. It is clear that the tongue forms the largest niche for microorganims in the oral cavity. However, on the basis of literature, there appears to be no data to justify the necessity to clean the tongue on a regular basis. One exception would be oral malodour.

Cutaneous and Oral Mucosal Lesions in Cri-du-chat Syndrome

“…On the other hand, on the basis of literature, there appears to be no data to justify the necessity to clean the tongue on a regular basis. One exception would be oral malodour [13]. The indication of such a measure in our patient on an unidentified atrophic and inflamed oral mucosa by the dentist was inadequate, as this was a cause for its rupture.…”

Intraoral electric potential <i>via</i> oral bacterial power generation —A novel mechanism of biofilm formation

“…Specimens for the oral bacterial count were obtained from the surface of participant's tongue using a dedicated cotton bud 20) . Tongue coating acts as a direct and primary source of oral malodor, which has been extensively documented 33,34) . The lack of a significant correlation between tongue coating level and OHI/ CPI could correspond with the absence of a significant correlation between oral halitosis/oral bacterial count and OHI/CPI.…”

Clinical assessment of oral malodor using autofluorescence of tongue coating

“…The visual methods based on observation of the coated area, amount, color and thickness have been used commonly in the clinic due to their usefulness, speed and simplicity. However, there are no clear criteria for distinguishing grades and exact methods to score the tongue coating status, and there has been a low consistency between the results of inter-and intra-examiner agreements [1,5].Therefore, it is necessary to develop an objective evaluation method that is reliable and reproduciblein routine clinical settings to avoid the disagreement on ratings associated with using subjective assessment criteria.…”

“…Tongue coating acts as a direct and primary source of oral malodor, which has been extensively documented [1,2]. The coating is predominantly composed of anaerobic organisms with proteolytic activity that causes oral malodor and provides proper conditions for the pathogens to produce the various malodorous compounds [3,4].…”

“…Several methodshave been developed for evaluating tongue coating status by quantifying its characteristics using visual assessments, bacterial counts on the tongue surface and wet weight measurements [1,5,7]. The visual methods based on observation of the coated area, amount, color and thickness have been used commonly in the clinic due to their usefulness, speed and simplicity.…”