Do you need a tongue scraper?

Source: Reader’s Digest, October 2014

A toothbrush, floss and a tongue scraper are the three dental products every adult should have, says Dr. Natalie Archer, a dentist who runs two Toronto clinics and was a past vice-president of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario. ‘I wouldn’t spend my money on something like a water flosser,’ she says. While the idea of dragging a tool shaped like a shoehorn across your tongue once a day might not sound particularly appealing, it’s effective. Thanks to its design, scrapers get at back-of-the-throat bacteria your toothbrush can’t. They also improve your breath and, for some, even your sense of taste. It’s the very first thing Archer does after waking up in the morning’even before breakfast.