You use it to talk and chew your food, but what else do you know about your tongue?
Tongues are the unsung heroes of the mouth. To honor them, we’ve listed a few interesting facts:
- It’s quite sensitive: The tip of your tongue is very sensitive, making it easy to detect bones in your food and small food pieces stuck in your teeth.
- Many taste buds: Your tongue houses anywhere between 2,000 to 10,000 taste buds – that’s a full house!
- You can’t see your taste buds: The little bumps you see on your tongue are called papillae which the taste buds sit within. This means that taste buds are not visible to the human eye.
- You can’t taste without saliva: Until your saliva has moistened the food, you won’t be able to taste it. Saliva has digestive enzymes that help to detect the flavor of food.
- It’s the most flexible muscle in the body: It has 8 muscles making it very flexible. We think it’s best used to dig around for popcorn kernels in your mouth.
- Why a dog’s tongue hangs out of its mouth: A dog’s tongue expands in size when they’ve exercised, so it hangs out of its mouth to help with blood flow.
- It needs to be cleaned well: Because your tongue’s surface is uneven, you need to clean it well so that all the bacteria is washed away or say hello to bad breath!
We hope that these facts have tickled your brain. Our bodies are fantastic machines but they still need to be cared for. Looking to boost oral care? Schedule your appointment with us and we’ll be happy to assist you!
