Marketing executives for tongue scraper manufacturers would have you believe that their products rid users of bad breath, known medically as halitosis. However, a review publsihed in The Cochrane Library in April of 2006 showed there is not much evidence to support this claim. Both toothbrushes and tongue scrapers produce similar results in the two short trials which have been conducted. One study took place in Germany and excluded both smokers and patients with illnesses that may contribute to bad breath. Thirty adults with high levels of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs), which are an objective measure of bad breath, showed that VSC levels dropped 42 percent with a brush-scraper device , 40 percent with a scraper, and 33 percent with the brush. These figures sound good, but the effect did not last more than 30 minutes.
Another small study of 10 subjects, conducted in Brazil, showed a wider gap in results between the scraper and brush. VSC levels dropped 75 percent with the tongue scraper, compared with 45 percent with the toothbrush. However, Cochrane Library researchers find there is little hard evidence to support the tongue scraper claim. Because this second study was so small, the results would need to be repeated in a large scale trial. Until more reliable evidence surfaces, researchers cannot support the effectiveness of tongue scrapers.
Posted by Dr. Jennifer Stagg on August 13, 2006 08:21 AM
