9 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About the Tongue | Family Dentist Benicia
We use our tongues every day to talk, taste, and swallow, yet we rarely take time to think about this flexible organ. Here are 9 things you may not know about the tongue shared by our dentist in 94510 [https://benicia.dental/about/]:
* The longest recorded tongue was more than 3.8 inches from back to tip; the widest measured over 3” across.
* The human tongue contains 8 separate muscles intertwined.
* A blue whale tongue weighs about 5,400 pounds and is roughly the size of an adult elephant!
* Tongues come in many shapes and have varying numbers of taste buds. This makes a human tongue imprint as unique as a fingerprint.
* The average person has about 10,000 taste buds in their mouth.
* A single taste bud contains between 50 and 100 taste cells, which may have sensors for multiple tastes.
* No individual taste cell can identify both bitter and sweet flavors.
* 1 milliliter of saliva contains about 1,000,000 bacteria.
* Using a tongue scraper to clean your tongue is proven to help prevent osteoporosis, pneumonia, heart attacks, premature births, diabetes, and male infertility.
Health issues involving the tongue are most commonly caused by bacteria or tobacco use. Proper cleaning of the tongue can help prevent these conditions from developing. However, if you notice sores, discoloration, or other symptoms, contact our office.
Some tongue-affecting illnesses include:
* L...
