Care Of The Tongue

Accurately diagnosing common lesions will allow appropriate management and help eliminate malignant neoplasms - This course was published in the March 2016 issue and expires 03\/31\/19. The authors have no commercial conflicts of interest to disclose. This 2 credit hour self study activity is electronically mediated. After reading this course, the participant ought to be capable to! Identify the most typical benign lesions found on the tongue. Describe the etiology and clinical manifestations of every of - these lesions. Discuss lesion diagnosis and management. Lesions affecting the tongue represent a considerable portion of oral mucosal lesions. In accordance with the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the prevalence of tongue lesions at any time is 15.5%.1 Many large scale, population based screenings have identified the most typical conditions affecting the tongue, however, these were performed on specific groups and the data might vary based on the population studied and assessment method.2, 3 - Even though the tongue is mainly composed of muscle tissue, most pathologic lesions arise from the cells of the surface epithelium, that covers the tongue, and blood vessels.2 This article describes some of the most typical benign conditions that affect the tongue. 

Geographic Tongue - more commonly known as benign migratory glossitis, geographic tongue was first identified by French doctor Pierre Franois Olive Rayer in 1831. He described the condition as a wandering rash of the tongue. The most commonly affected site is the front two thirds of the dorsal tongue, although these benign white and red lesions may also present on other oral mucosal sites.4, 5 Geographic tongue has a number of monikers, including lingua geographica, erythema migrans, exfoliation areata lingua, superficial migratory glossitis, lingual dystrophy, pityriases linguae, transitory benign plaques of the tongue, marginal exfoliative glossitis, ectopic geographic tongue and glossitis areata migrans. 

The most often used terms, however, are geographic tongue or benign migratory glossitis.6 - The reported prevalence of geographic tongue ranges from 0.28% to 14.4 percent, 6 although most surveys note the range between 1.0% and 2.5%.6, 7 Shulmans and Carpenters population based, case control study, which looked at data from 16, 833 American adults in NHANES 19881 9 4, found that geographic tongue was more common among whites and blacks compared to Mexican Americans.4 There's debate on which age group is most frequently affected. Though some researchers believe that geographic tongue is most common among kids and that frequency decreases with age, others believe that it may happen at all ages. Although many reports claim no gender predilection, others suggest that the disorder is more common among women.4, 6, 7 In a study of 188 Thai subjects, Jainkittivong and Langlais found that women were slightly more prone to be affected than men.8 - whilst the exact etiology of geographic tongue is unclear, multiple causes have been proposed. There are theories that suggest that geographic tongue can be connected with hormonal fluctuations or allergies, or that it might be psychosomatic.4 Geographic tongue can have a genetic cause as well.6 Dermatological conditions, like pustular psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis and pityriasis pilaris, have been linked to the condition.

Posted in: