Influence of tongue brushing on oral microbiome diversity

Abstract

The tongue microbiome has been linked to oral health and disease. A variety of methods for removing the tongue coating, such as tongue brushing and tongue scraping, have been developed aiming to reduce bad breath and prevent pneumonia. We investigated the effect of tongue brushing on tongue microbial diversity. A controlled study was performed to measure how the tongue and saliva microbiota of 10 healthy participants changes following tongue brushing. Tongue brushing did not alter either the α- or β-diversity of the tongue microbiota. However, it significantly increased the abundance of Prevotella melaninogenica, Prevotella nanceiensis, Veillonella parvula and Veillonella parvula in the tongue microbiota, while decreasing the abundance of Prevotella histicola. Tongue brushing may be useful to improve oral health without influencing the microbiome diversity. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2020; 54: 205-212)