mouth and dental disorders
Tongue Discoloration and Other Changes
Tongue surface changes
, some areas of the tongue are red and smooth (like ulcers), often surrounded by a white border. Other areas, appearing white or yellow and rough, may resemble Psoriasis or be caused by psoriasis. The areas of discoloration often move around over a period of weeks to years. The condition is usually painless, and no treatment is needed. If people have symptoms, applying low doses of corticosteroids sometimes helps. Infissured tongue, deep grooves are located on the tongue surface. The cause is unknown, but fissured tongue may occur with geographic tongue and some other disorders. Usually, there are no symptoms and no treatment is needed. In"hairy" tongue, keratin (a normal body protein that is in hair, skin, and nails) accumulates on the normal projections on the top of the tongue (papillae) and gives it a hairy appearance. Hairy tongue may develop when food debris is trapped in the papillae when people do not clean their mouth adequately. The tongue may also appear hairy after a fever, after antibiotic treatment, or when peroxide mouthwash is used too often. These "hairs" on the top of the tongue should not be confused with hairy leukoplakia. Hairy leukoplakia is white, hairy-appearing patches on the side of the tongue that is caused by the Infectious Mononucleosis . It usually occurs in people with conditions that suppress the immune system, especially Strawberry tongue describes a red tongue with small "seeds." The tiny thread-like projections (papillae) on the tongue shed or slough off and the mushroom-shaped projections remain, which form the "seeds of the strawberry." Strawberry tongue may also be the first sign of scarlet fever. SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY The surface of the tongue has large, irregular patches that have the appearance of countries on a map. Photo courtesy of Casey Campbell, DDS, MS. Benign migratory glossitis (geographic tongue) in which the normal projections (papillae) on the tongue surface are lost and surrounded by raised white-yellow areas. The tongue also shows fissuring (deep grooves on the top and sides of the tongue), which often coexists with geographic tongue. © Springer Science+Business Media The tongue is brownish and has a hairy appearance because keratin has collected on the normal projections on the top of the tongue (papillae). Photo courtesy of Craig B. Fowler, DDS. Whitish patches on the tongue, similar to those sometimes found inside the cheeks, may be due to Fever Dehydration The second stage of Secondary syphilis None Noncancerous mouth growths (a Lichen Planus (an itchy skin disease that can also affect the mouth) Precancerous changes in the mouth (a flat white spot that develops as a result of prolonged irritation) Mouth breathing Rubbing against a sharp tooth edge or broken filling 