Unless you’ve bitten, burned, or pierced your tongue, you may not think much about it throughout your daily life. In the sense of your oral health, however, your tongue plays a number of vital roles. It helps you speak clearly and moves food to the back of your throat so you can swallow it. It can also warn you of some illnesses that you may not otherwise detect. To honor this important element of your oral health, Pella dentist Dr. Allen lists some fun facts about the human tongue.
Did You Know?
- One of the more well-known facts about your tongue is that it is the strongest muscle in your body. It is also the only muscle that is connected at only one end.
- An instinctive reaction to bad breath is to brush your teeth. However, many of the oral bacteria that lead to bad breath rest on the surface of your tongue. Brushing your tongue or using a tongue scraper during your toothbrushing routine can help remove the bacteria and improve your breath.
- Speaking of bacteria, did you know that your mouth plays host to almost 15 billion different bacteria? About half of them live on your tongue.
- Luckily, more than just bacteria dwell on your tongue. Approximately 8,000 of your 10,000 taste buds are located on the top of your tongue. The other 2,000 are dispersed under your tongue, on the roof of your mouth, and inside your cheeks.
- Each one of those taste buds contains 50-100 taste cells. Each cell has multiple taste sensors, but oddly, no single cell can detect both bitter and sweet.
- Have you ever wondered what the world’s greatest tongue twister is? According to Guinness World Records, the following sentence is the hardest tongue twister in the English language: “The sixth sick sheikh’s sixth sheep’s sick.”
Oral Health in Pella
Dr. Jeffrey Allen provides comfortable dental care to patients of all ages. Call (641) 628-1121 today to schedule a checkup and cleaning, cosmetic consultation, or second-opinion visit. We are located on the west side of the historic town square in Pella, IA. Please see the map for directions.