A
tongue depressor is a
tool used in
medical practice to depress the
tongue to allow for examination of the
mouth and
throat. The most common modern tongue depressors are flat, thin,
wooden blades, smoothed and rounded at both ends, but, historically, tongue depressors have been made of a variety of materials. Since they are inexpensive and difficult to clean, wooden tongue depressors are labeled for
disposal after a single use.