Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2019 Nov 4:2019:6320261.
doi: 10.1155/2019/6320261. eCollection 2019.

Prevalence of Tongue Cleaning Using a Toothbrush: A Questionnaire Survey in Fukui Prefecture, Japan

Shinpei Matsuda  1 , Takehisa Saito  2 , Hisato Yoshida  1 , Hitoshi Yoshimura  1 , Kazuo Sano  1   3
Affiliations
Observational Study

Prevalence of Tongue Cleaning Using a Toothbrush: A Questionnaire Survey in Fukui Prefecture, Japan

Shinpei Matsuda et al. Biomed Res Int. .

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the tongue cleaning habits using toothbrushes among outpatients of the University of Fukui Hospital and a private hospital in Fukui Prefecture.

Methods: We administered a questionnaire survey to volunteers detailing tongue cleaning habits using toothbrushes. The content of the questions in this survey were as follows: gender, age, frequency of tongue cleaning, portion of tongue cleaning, and purposes of tongue cleaning.

Results: We had 1,014 volunteers of various ages participating in this study. Regarding the frequency of tongue cleaning, 187 (18.4%) of all participants replied, "Every day", and 346 (34.1%) replied, "Sometimes". Regarding tongue cleaning of the 533 participants with active tongue cleaning habits, 242 (45.4%) participants replied, "The center of the dorsum of the tongue", and 274 (51.4%) replied, "The entire tongue". When analyzing the purpose of tongue cleaning, 346 (64.9%) participants replied, "To remove the tongue stain", 192 (36.0%) participants replied, "To remove the tongue coating", and 240 (45.0%) participants replied, "To manage halitosis".

Conclusions: This study clarified that a wide range of age groups in the nonhospitalized general public practiced tongue cleaning habits using a toothbrush for various purposes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest and no sources of funding with regard to this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency of tongue cleaning using a toothbrush.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of participants who had tongue cleaning habits.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Portion of tongue cleaning using a toothbrush.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Purpose of tongue cleaning using a toothbrush.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Yoneyama T., Yoshida M., Matsui T., Sasaki H. Oral care and pneumonia. Oral care working group. The Lancet. 1999;354(9177):515. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(s05)75550-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Izumi M., Takeuchi K., Ganaha S., Akifusa S., Yamashita Y. Effects of oral care with tongue cleaning on coughing ability in geriatric care facilities: a randomised controlled trial. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation. 2016;43(12):953–959. doi: 10.1111/joor.12451. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ogami K., Ueda T., Ryu M., Tajima S., Sakurai K. Evaluation of factors associated with tongue coating status in elderly with care needs. The Bulletin of Tokyo Dental College. 2018;59(3):163–169. doi: 10.2209/tdcpublication.2017-0041. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ory J., Mourgues C., Raybaud E., et al. Cost assessment of a new oral care program in the intensive care unit to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia. Clinical Oral Investigations. 2018;22(5):1945–1951. doi: 10.1007/s00784-017-2289-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Usubuchi M., Matsuura K., Goto T., et al. Professional oral health care at general dental clinic reduces postoperative complications of head and neck free-flap reconstruction surgery. Journal of Cancer. 2019;10(1):205–210. doi: 10.7150/jca.26298. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types