What Are Tongue Blades?

Contrary to what the name suggests, tongue blades are not blades and they cannot cut or puncture skin. Tongue blades are tools used by physicians world-wide to examine, diagnose and prescribe proper treatments for patients suffering from a wide variety of ailments.

Uses

• Tongue blades, more commonly known as tongue depressors, are medical instruments physicians use to examine the oropharynx, which is located in the back of the mouth in the throat region. They do this by placing the tongue blade flat onto the patient's tongue and lightly pressing down to move the tongue out of the way. This allows for a more thorough examination of the back of the throat and doctors can use them to diagnose illnesses such as strep throat and tonsillitis.

Materials

• Older versions of the tongue blade were made from harder materials such as ivory, bone, nickel and silver. Physicians did not commonly use tongue blades until the 17th century. Wooden tongue blades were created in the early 20th century. The wooden form is the most commonly used and most widespread version of the tongue blade available today. Modern tongue blades look similar to large popsicle sticks.

Other Uses

• Tongue blades can serve other purposes aside from examining the throat. Some physicians use tongue blades taped together at one end to create a gentle nose clip for patients suffering from persistent nosebleeds. Doctors use the tongue blade nose clip to apply pressure to the outside of the nose to slow nosebleeds. Other physicians use tongue blades to determine whether a patient has suffered a fracture of the jaw joint. Because the average adult is able to break a tongue blade clenched between the teeth, the inability to do so suggests that the patient has suffered from a blunt force trauma to the jaw joint.

Non-Medical uses

• You also can use tongue blades in a non-medical way. Many children and adults enjoy creating crafts using tongue blades. Some crafts include tongue blade snowmen decorated with cotton balls and paint, painted tongue blade stars that are glued together at the ends to create five points and catapults, which are usually made from tongue blades and other craft materials.