Tongue depressor - Wikipedia Tongue depressor Tongue depressor 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. Hobbyists and teachers have found a multitude of uses for tongue depressors ( sometimes called `` craft sticks '' or `` popsicle sticks '' ) in their projects. Tongue depressors may be used to form so - called `` stick bombs ''. Earlier versions of depressors were made from balsa, pine, or redwood woods. Tongue depressors made from wood and metal exist from the American Civil War. References Jump up ^ Mirriam - Webster 's Medical Dictionary Jump up ^ Cohen, J Solis. Diseases of the Throat and Nasal Passages : A Guide to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Affections of the Pharynx, Oesophagus, Trachea, Larynx, and Nares. Chapter II, Examination of the Throat and Nasal Passages. Published by W. Wood, 1884, 742 pp. Jump up ^ Landro, L. Hospitals Reuse Medical Devices To Lower Costs Wall Street Journal March 19, 2008. Jump up ^ Kent Wood, Ric LaBan. N Scale Model Railroad That Grows Kalmbach Publishing, Co., 1996. Jump up ^ LaBritta Gilbert, Linda Greigg. Do touch : instant, easy hands - on learning experiences for young children Published by Gryphon House, Inc., 1989. Jump up ^ Echols, M. Items on the 1865 inventory list of the Conesus, N.Y. Military Hospital, June 2010. External links VCU Libraries Medical Artifacts Collection : Tongue Depressors This article related to medical equipment is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tongue_depressor&oldid=856335837 '' Categories : Medical equipment Tongue Medical equipment stubs Talk About Wikipedia Català Deutsch Español فارسی Italiano Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Српски / srpski 4 more Edit links This page was last edited on 24 August 2018, at 14 : 03 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: where should a tongue depressor be placed after it is used
Answer: disposal after a single use