Does Tongue Scraping Cause Cancer?
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- Tongue cleaning should be carried out gently with low pressure to avoid unnecessary tissue trauma.
Triggering the gag reflex is one of the downsides of tongue scraping, but there are ways around that. Try to momentarily stop breathing while you’re cleaning, avoid scraping after using minty toothpaste, and just give yourself time to get used to it.
There are all sorts of caveats with extrapolating the hamster carcinogen / barbed wire experiments in terms of cancer, but it’s still a good idea not to smoke, eat barbecued meat, or use mouthwashes containing alcohol-or, frankly, any beverages containing alcohol. Avoid electrical tongue-cleaning devices, and just scrape the surface of your tongue, not the sides.
This is the third video in a series on tongue scrapers. The first two were Effects of Tongue Scraping on Plaque, Gingivitis, and Cavities (nutritionfacts...) and Tongue Scraping vs. Tongue Brushing for Treating Halitosis (Bad Breath) (nutritionfacts....
Any other potential downsides? Well, some of you tried-and-true nutrition lovers out there might be thinking, what about those magical tongue bacteria that allow you to take full advantage of the vegetable nitrate in dark green leafy vegetables and beets? Might tongue scraping scrape off some of the good bugs on your tongue? That’s the subject of my text video.
The final two videos in this series will be How Tongue Scraping Can Affect Heart Health (nutritionfacts...) and How to Clean Your Tongue (nutritionfacts....
PS: The alcohol and breast cancer video I mentioned is Breast Cancer and Alcohol: How Much Is Safe? (nutritionfacts....
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Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM
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So basically don't go too hard, don't experience any pain, and only do the top. Perfect!
Literally watched this in line at the store with a tongue scraper in my hand
There is such a thing as a tongue brush, which I prefer to use over a scraper. I add a little toothpaste for best effect. It helps to soften the bristles with hot water first, to not cause any micro-injuries to tongue surface.
This is timely; I recently had the bright idea to start regularly cleaning my tongue with my electric toothbrush...I will cease that activity post haste.
I've been doing it for years... oops!
OMG me too🤣
Even brushing with an electric toothbrush caused me all sorts of problems. I didn't know until after I developed sensitive teeth everywhere that you can only lightly brush over your teeth with those very quickly or you risk damage. I switched back to soft-bristle manual which has kept me cavity free for my whole life. Be careful with those electric ones.
My advice: use a metal spoon. Its smooth surface provides for a decreased risk in tongue injury & the shape of it allows for easier collection of tongue residue.
Use a butter 🔪
But does it clean as good as a tooth brush?
@@LoylaDemiseem personally I think it cleans better than a toothbrush. Due to the shape of the spoon it collects the white stuff on your tongue, to which you can just run under some hot water and go back to scoop again. A toothbrush just rearranges the white stuff.
Thank you for putting this out. I would have NEVER thought there would be any harm done to the mouth other than smoking or chewing tabaco. Another tool for the toolbox.
Spare a thought for the poor animals used in the experiments. I just had images running through my mind every time the poor darlings were mentioned. I just wish the world was a kinder place.
Sadly very few people are so sensitive I tried changing people but have given up so it’s just me n my conscience Love for Animals have made me vegan I feel at peace
Man I am so confused. Thank you sir for gathering this information and presenting it so well.
So tongue scraping could be bad if you smoke or eat carcinogenic foods. And don’t use brushes; use a smooth scraper.
My main worry is the tissue damage caused by me eating hot food before it has cooled. The blisters inside my mouth are wild. I always tell myself I'll learn from this experience but clearly it's not painful enough, because I always do it again. I'm a glutton, what can I say.
hey, I can relate 😭, most of the time I just drink cold water, use ice, or rinse my tongue. Its effective :)
When I was younger, I loved to make puff pastry (pillows, turnovers... you name it) with jam or cocoa cream. Could never wait for it to cool, and would get positively scorched. Thankfully the oral mucosa kept up, until I grew some patience lol.
So I feel you.
Thank you Dr Greger ❤
It would be interesting to know the effect of tongue scraping on the oral microbiome.
How to treat the cause of bad breath and not just the symptoms?
This should be the solution
If your cause of bad breath is a medical issue, you should speak to your dentist to resolve it.
@@brioche8123 I don't have bad breath.
I just think it would be better to treat the cause
@@xperience-evolution I didn’t mean you. I was using the generic you, like hypothetically what a person should do if experiencing this.
bad breath is mainly due to poor oral hygiene. Brushing, flossing, and tongue scraping can show great results :)
@@drnatesw I don't think it is. Otherwise everyone would have had bad breath back when there was no oral hygiene.
I also thought tongue scraping with a toothbrush was a bit unhealthy, it's just too harsh on the tongue which has very delicate surfaces with many nerve endings . take it easy
Again and simply: pain = mistake and eventually damage so dont do this too hard till pain.
totally, just be gentle, don't be harsh
But the gym bros say you *CAN NOT* (ever, or under any circumstance) build muscle without pain, and that if the exercise doesn't cause you to hurt at all, you're not doing it properly.
@@miloradvlaovic It is wrong and bénéficial excercice is not painful if well done.
@@miloradvlaovic it’s probably different, muscles are made for that kind of work, a more comparative example will be scratching your skin every day to the point it bleeds every day in the same place for years
Now this has me wondering, if simple abrasion over time can cause cancer, can me biting the tips of my fingers (bad habit, I know, but a hard one to break thus far) possibly lead to skin cancer on the tips of my fingers???
Good to know.
Only soft bristle toothbrushes are recommended by dentists. Also, this is why most toothbrushes have the tongue brush on the back of the head.
Excellent !!!
When i don't scraping white tongue, it may cause cancer?
Poor oral health can increase the chances of cancers related to the digestive system. Tongue scraping is a great way to maintain good oral hygiene. Hope this helps :)
Lol. I literally bought a tongue scraper like two days ago.
thanks.
I have bitten my tongue and/or inner mouth while eating many times over my 62 years. No issues. It simply healed itself. I have also used Listerine with alcohol for years. Again with no issues. We humans seem to constantly look for a boogeyman that's out to get us.
it's the so called n=1 case, so thank you for your contribution but leave the science for scientists
@@TheGhost385 You really think its n=1. Literally millions around the world, and no evidence whatsoever of an increased number of dorsal tongue cancer. GTFO.
Isn't fluoride a carcinogen?
TL;DW, don't bother about cancer thing if your lifestyle is vegan and you don't smoke shyte and you don't drink alcohol . Finally you need to brush and clean your mouth and tongue (the top surface only) softly and gently to avoid micro cuts.
Totally !! adopt a healthy lifestyle, exercise daily, maintain body hygiene, and eat healthily :)
So how is rough food not carcinogenic?
Rotten food is carcinogenic, no doubt about that. Hence it is important to maintain good oral hygiene to prevent food particles from rotting inside your alimentary canal. Hope this answers your ques :)
Maybe rough textured foods get chewed up quick enough, I’ve definitely gotten abrasions in my mouth from food before.
The other issue with tongue scraping is the decrease of helpful bacteria on the tongue that produce helpful Nitric Oxide via conversion of dietary Nitrates...
I’d love a mouth bacteria break down, I wonder if green tea kills any beneficial bacterias
Hello, it may be even the other way around, that the helpful bacteria increase. Some time ago I saw a video (on an other channel I think), which mentioned I guess certain results of this study :
'Frequency of Tongue Cleaning Impacts the Human Tongue Microbiome Composition and Enterosalivary Circulation of Nitrate'
In the study they e.g. say:
'...Therefore, tongue-cleaning does have a significant impact on tongue bacterial community composition, and daily cleaning (either once or twice) results in an increased proportion of H. parainfluenza and other Proteobacteria, which are major nitrate and nitrite reducing species of the oral cavity (Hyde et al., 2014).'
'....From our analysis, regular tongue cleaning results in a tongue microbiome that has a greater ability to reduce nitrite to NO, and conversely, failure to clean the tongue daily results in a microbiome composition that is less favorable to NO production, but instead appears to favor conversion of nitrite to ammonia.'
A part of the authors seem to be connected here with the health industry for microbiome / No, but I don't see a conflict in this case.
From an other study I found, called Influence of tongue brushing on oral microbiome diversity:
'....Our results showed that physical cleaning using a tongue brush does not increase the α diversity of the tongue coating microbiota (Fig. 2). We also showed that tongue brushing can alter the abundance of certain bacterial species. Interestingly, the list of affected OTUs were different across the different oral cleaning methods. As shown in Fig. 7, tongue brushing increased the abundance of P. melaninogenica, a species with a low risk of aspiration pneumonia, and decreased P. histicola, a species with a high risk of aspiration pneumonia.'
@@phil_mun Thank you so much for finding that article!
Does kale scraping your tongue as you swallow cause cancer?
A little "tongue in cheek" humor, I sense 😉
"In fact, 54% of the centenarian-males and 31% of the centenarian-females indicated to consume alcohol regularly or often." just sayin, maybe we should be studying Keith Richards instead of the Adventists
I am confused with this video. I don't understand what I'm supposed to learn as there seemed to be lots of opposing information regarding mouth cleaning and cancer.
Me too. If tongue scrapers cause cancer, why are they sold? Why don't they have some warning like cigarrettes? I've been using tongue scrapers for years. Now I'm confused.
Tongue cleaning is okay, just do it lightly and gently with a soft brush
@@boulderingace7952 Thank you very much. I'll follow your recommendation from now on. I usually scratched my tongue with the tongue scraper because I thought it was the best.
@@boulderingace7952 And maybe don't brush the sides of your tongue too.
in short, poor oral hygiene can increase the risk of cancer, it is important to maintain oral hygiene and tongue scraping is can be really effective :)
My hubby died recently of tongue cancer. I have to wonder if this is how it happened. 😞
So very sorry
@@dianeladico1769 thank you. ❤️
I made a tongue scraper out of a strip of plastic cut from an empty gallon milk container. Then I sanded the edges smooth with an emery board.
It's amazing how much gunk it removes from my tongue. My kids bought me this fancy stainless steel one, but I never use it as the homemade one cleans better. 🌱
How is tongue cleaning anymore carcinogenic than eating abrasive foods like oats or popcorn or any number of very fibrous fruits and veggies
I watched this while having a whiskey... put things in perspective..
You are what you eat. So your mouth micobiome and your gut micobiome, I think would be close as to the kind of bacteria???
I've never gotten a gag reflex from tongue scraping. I get that from regular toothbrushing! It sucks. But with tongue scraping, just don't be silly and stick it all the way back into your throat, problem solved. And those experiments on rodents are awful! Did we really need to know that it's bad to scrape your tongue with barbed wire? Those researchers should be shut down.
Agreed! I have never had a gag reflex when tongue scraping because I don't reach that far back in my throat, and only lightly press the scraper on the tongue.
What can you do to cure vaccine induced myocarditis?
It’s extremely rare
👍
Where do people come up with the most ridiculous nonsense questions?
💚
Moral of the story...Stick to using blades to shave your beard, not your tongue.
Ummm, yee No❗🤣
💕