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Show The Tooth Doctdr Just About Tongue I'm sure many of you are wondering whether or not I take interest in my dog, Farley's teeth. Of course I do! I examine his teeth for cavities and plaque formations forma-tions which eventually cause many dogs, especially those on a poor diet, to lose their teeth. My mind's eye has a pretty clear picture of the overall appearance of his mouth and how much gross debris it contains. I also know what the appearance of his tongue is like, keeping in mind all of the gross places it has been. You know how dogs are... they like to lick anything that stinks. This background information informa-tion may seem quite irrelevant irrele-vant to dentistry for Park City people, but actually it is not. What I'm trying to say is that I've seen some really horrendous tongues here in town. The whereabouts of these tongues is entirely held in professional confidentiality. confidential-ity. I promise you without exaggeration that I would rather kiss my dog Farley, then some of the tongues I've seen here in town. The tongue is like a giant sponge. It's the most vascular vascu-lar tissue in the body and receives more nerve innervation innerva-tion than any other body , organ, receiving innervation for taste, proprieception arid motor function. It represents the most common site of oral cancer. It's surface microscopically micro-scopically resembles a giant bed of mushrooms. It is highly absorbent, trapping the bacteria below the heads of the mushrooms around the stems. : The bacteria colonies grow, doubling in population as often as every twenty minutes. This bacterial colony col-ony represents 256 breeds of bugs, and grows on the tongue like they would on a spoiled piece of meat. The result is an extreme loss of taste accuity, an increased population of bacteria in the mouth, and foul breath odor, . In fact, it has been shown that 2A of all cases of halatosis (bad breath) is caused by this germ coating on the tongue. ..arid no. Listerine doesn't kill these germs. To remove these bacteria you must vigorously scrub that tongue of yours with toothpaste and a soft brush on a daily basis. After a few days it will be nice, pink, fresh and clean. Reach back as far as you can. If gagging is a problem, you can use a spray which will ; numb the area and decrease sensitivity for a few minutes until the brushing is completed, Don't feel guilty if you are one of the 80 of the population who have a coated tongue. I'm just irying to make you realize i he actual manifestations of a coated tongue. I only know it hat if you had seen some of J he tongues I have, you would be a little more discriminating about who's tongue you are kissing. Your Local Tooth Doctor Dane Q. Robinson, DDS |