Did you know that brushing your teeth isn't enough to get rid of bad breath. It is a good start of course, but not scientifically proven to get rid of halitosis.
Despite the picture above you can't burn it away either.
Even using your toothbrush to scrape or clean your tongue isn't as effective as the method detailed below.
First off though, let's talk about how to get rid of bad breath, but understanding just how we our mouth became so foul smelly.
Halitosis, or bad breath, is caused by mainly volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) as a result of bacterial breakdown of protein and can be quantitatively and qualitatively measured in the expired oral breath. In eight to ninety percent of cases, halitosis originates in the mouth due to inadequate plaque control, periodontal disease, dry mouth, faulty restorations, and in particular due to excessive bacterial growth on the posterior third of the dorsal surface of the tongue. Source
The last part is quite key. Excessive bacterial growth on the back part of the tongue. Reaching that part can be done with a toothbrush, but it doesn't adequately, nor effectively remove that build up of bacteria.
Only daily tongue scraping is able to get rid of bad breath i.e. the bacterial load at a statistically significant level. So there, you go it was put to the test in this study and daily tongue scraping at least twice a day is the best way to clean the dorsal surface of the tongue.
Read: What is a copper tongue scraper?
Maybe you are still thinking you'll just scrape a or brush your tongue a little harder. Remember it isn't always the carpenter, but sometimes it is the tool. Even a Gaia Guy Bamboo and Boar Bristle Toothbrush isn't as good as Gaia Guy's pure copper tongue scraper in helping you get rid of that bad breath causing bacteria.
Here is a study that did a large review of various studies and they found:
All experiments show a positive effect of mechanical tongue cleaning in addition to toothbrushing on various parameters of oral malodour.
Conclusions: This review demonstrated that mechanical approaches, such as tongue brushing or tongue scraping to clean the dorsum of the tongue, have the potential to successfully reduce breath odour and TC. Source
So, pick up some natural bristle toothbrushes and copper tongue scraper today and make it part of your daily oral hygiene routine and you too can get rid of bad breath.
If you would like to read about some other benefits of using a copper tongue scraper then click that link above.