Mouth gags having a tongue blade that includes a spine and an engagement portion for engaging a tongue of a patient are disclosed herein. The spine has a front, a back, a first side and a second side. A plurality of ratchet notches are located on the first side and a plurality of ratchet notches located on the second side. The mouth gag also includes a ratchet mechanism. The ratchet mechanism has a plurality of ratchet teeth for engaging the ratchet notches and a plurality of release tabs for disengaging the ratchet teeth from the ratchet notches.
