It is a kind of medical instrument that is used to hold the tongue against the floor of the mouth during medical examinations. It is quite useful in medical professionals. Without the use of a tongue depressor, the patient's tongue might drift up, impeding the practitioner's view of the mouth and throat. Convectional tongue depressors are wooden with rounded ends. The equipment is designed to be kept in a clean, although not necessarily sterile, environment; tongue depressors do not need to be sterile as a common rule because they are not being introduced to a highly vulnerable area of the body.