Briton’s tongues could save our love lives

Everyday we risk coming across someone with breath that makes us want to run a mile – and sometimes that person can be very close to home.

New research by ICM for the new AMANO Tongue Cleanser shows that bad breath is a sure fire way of dousing passion. Over a third of us admit that our partner sometimes has unsavory breath but we haven’t had the courage to tell them.  And one in five of us have decided not to kiss someone because their breath was a turn off.

When it comes to new romance, bad breath is the reason a first date doesn’t lead to a second for nearly a third of Britons, whilst a jaw-dropping three quarters think that bad breath is more off putting than bad dress or poor conversation.

Fretting about the state of our breath has become a national obsession with one in five of us admitting they worry ‘all or most of the time’ about this and nearly half of us saying they have even tried to smell their our own breath.

Despite this fixation, we remain ignorant about how to achieve better oral hygiene with almost half of us not realising that a dirty tongue is a major factor in causing bad breath and tooth decay.       

Sally Goss, Dental Hygienist at the Harley Street Dental Studio, London commented;

It's obviously important to clean teeth and gums efficiently and effectively every day. But the tongue is more important than we think, after all it is one third of the surface area of our mouth. It’s not just about reducing a source of bad breath or tooth decay.  By unclogging our taste buds we can actually enhance our taste sensitivity – in short food will taste much better. We really do need to stop neglecting our tongues.”

All about tongue cleansing

The surface of our tongue is rather like a deep-pile carpet, trapping food debris and bacteria. This noxious cocktail has been medically shown to increase bad breath, dental decay and plaque.

The AMANO Tongue Cleanser is based on a 2000 year Roman design. The nickel and chrome alloy head is gently drawn down the tongue’s surface - elegantly removing all the debris in 2 or 3 strokes. And because of its design and weight – you should not gag with an AMANO.

Tongue cleansing was in vogue back in the C18th and C19th, with George Washington and Victorian Aristocracy firm advocates of the routine.

You can check out their silver and ivory tongue cleansers at Mount Vernon Museum, Virginia USA and the V&A Museum, London.