Furry tongue

[maitre d']

Why do I wake up with a furry tongue some mornings?  I try to scrub it with my toothbrush but that makes me gag.  Any ideas?

[vicars]

Quite normal, don't worry. Firstly make sure you don't go to bed dehydrated - drink lots of water during the day and you should find this makes a difference. Also to remove the build up use a tongue scraper. They were used by the Romans and are available today in a variety of plastic colours - try a chemists or supermarket. They look like a u-shape that you scrape your tongue with - I use mine daily - amazing what you get off. Toothbrushes are pretty useless - make sure you use it before bed as well.

[keen2learn]

Anyone who sleeps with their mouth open probably wakes up with a furry tongue, along with smokers. Furry tongues are probably almost as responsible for bad breath as dirty teeth. I agree with vicars that tongue scrapers are good, but brushing twice a day does work too, albeit not quite as efficiently. If you keep the brush away from your throat you're not as likely to gag, and as you get used to doing it, the effect won't be so drastic.