Put it away Miley! Is star's slimy tongue giving away her health secrets?

  • Cher said Miley Cyrus, 20, shouldn't stick her tongue out 'if it's coated'
  • Oral hygiene experts say thick coating could mean heath problems

By Deni Kirkova

PUBLISHED: 05:22 EST, 14 October 2013 | UPDATED: 08:38 EST, 14 October 2013

Following on from singer Cher's damning statement about Miley Cyrus' VMA tongue-wagging antics, oral hygiene experts say it's evidence that she is stressed.

The pop legend, 67, told USA Today: 'Chick, don't stick out your tongue if it's coated.'

Now, Get The Gloss writer Emma Gunavardhana gets the lowdown on what the tongue can reveal about our overall health...

Open wide: Miley Cyrus put her foot in her mouth by telling an interviewer she won't take career advice from an old Jewish man; she is pictured at the NY release party for her new album Bangerz on Tuesday

Miley Cyrus, pictured at the NY release party for her new album Bangerz on Tuesday, shows off her tongue

Some of Miley Cyrus' recent antics may have left you feeling like an amateur gynecologist – that VMA performance, those Terry Richardson pictures…

As it happens such intimate access and some close inspection has given away something about her health, you just have to look two feet higher - at her tongue.

We weren't the only ones to notice something was a little 'off' but perhaps Cher said it best: 'Chick, don't stick out your tongue if it's coated.'

 

More...

Agreeing with Cher is Shabir Daya, co-founder of victoriahealth.com: 'Your tongue is a window into what's happening in your body; colour, coating and cracks are all indicators of the state of your health.' 

Cara Delevingne has been at it too choosing a protruding tongue and rock sign as her pap-pose of choice.

They may think their tongue-poking gives nothing away but actually they couldn't reveal more.

And this a metaphor for? At one point Miley licks a sledgehammer in the Terry Richardson inspired video, it's not clear as to which plot point this attends to

At one point Miley licks a sledgehammer in the Terry Richardson inspired video for Wrecking Ball

Daya reveals: 'A healthy tongue has a thin, white and moist coating and any deviation from this indicates possible problem.'

Oral B Smile Director Dr Uchenna Okoye agrees: 'A thin coating is normal but a thick white coating could indicate candidiasis or oral thrush, which is a fungus.' 

Chinese medicine actually uses the tongue as a matter of course to diagnose the state of someone's health and given that the mouth harbours anywhere between 300-400 species of bacteria, it's vital to have a dental hygiene routine that includes cleaning the tongue.

'Miley was in the midst of her break-up with Liam Hemsworth when she took to the stage with Robin Thicke. 'Stress can cause deeper cracks in the tongue since stress releases inflammatory hormones'

Maybe Miley wasn't making out with that sledgehammer in her Wrecking Ball video, but cleaning her tongue on its rough surface instead?

You may brush your teeth morning, noon and night but according to Daya that might not be enough.

'Small protrusions in the tongue can harbour food allowing bacteria and fungi to thrive and this results in a whitish tongue,' she says.

Essentially clean teeth can be almost immediately 'reinfected' by a dirty tongue. 

Miley was in the midst of her break-up with Liam Hemsworth when she took to the stage with Robin Thicke in August and interestingly the tongue is a sound stress indicator.

'Stress, particularly on-going stress, can cause deeper cracks in the tongue since stress releases inflammatory hormones,' says Daya.

The former child star loves to play up to her bad girl image and her MTV VMAs red carpet appearance was no exception

The former child star loves to play up to her bad girl image, especially at her MTV VMAs appearance

Okoye recommends using a mouthwash twice a day and Daya suggests the Peri Gum Mouth Wash Concentrate, £17.95, which contains seven herbal extracts that'll naturally improve any gum and mouth disorders.

Alternatively there are more and more products available to help keep your oral health tip-top, including the Dr Oliver Mouth Cleanser, £16, available at Space NK that normalizes pH levels in the mouth.

While a slightly more old-fashioned but no less effective option is the OraBrush Tongue Cleaner, £5.10 available from Boots that you simply draw from back-to-front along your tongue to scrape off unwanted nasties - for tackling bad breath it's a winner.

We may know more about Miley than we'd care to but thanks to her tongue-poking she may have helped us know more about ourselves.

Read more on Get The Gloss

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She's so disgusting

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Little girl in a big girls world

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Can't wait till she has to explain herself to her kids.

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Health problems? You kidding me? You mean mental health problems.

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She is pathetic. Can't she look at her own pictures and see how disgusting she comes across? She really needs help. I can't believe her parents don't intervene.

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She ruined herself, no one will ever take her serious, she is acting like a complete idiot. Can't even listen to the music, because now I don't like her anymore.

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Even her name Is annoying...who calls someone Miley????

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Her name is/was Destiny Hope Cyrus before she changed it...

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She is very annoying!! Her name is actually Destiny Hope Cyrus but as a child her nickname. was smiley which just got shortened to miley over time! (just a little pointless fact there!!)

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I think it's a mental health problem, who in their right mind sticks their tongue out all the time like this woman.

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That last photo of her- just vile. Does she ever look at them? If she's AWARE she looks like this then I assume she likes it. Tongue out, blinking, stupid hair- like a bad Pokemon character.

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Now I know what the expression 'keep a civil tongue in your head' means. Put it away child.

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