Fissured Tongue

Aka: Fissured Tongue, Dorsal Fissuring of Tongue, Congenital Furrows of Tongue, Scrotal Tongue

advertisement

II. Epidemiology

  1. Inherited Tongue fissuring increases with age

III. Pathophysiology

  1. Normal benign Tongue variation increases with age
  2. May be caused by Xerostomia

IV. Symptoms (related to food trapping in fissures)

  1. Halitosis
  2. Altered Tongue coloration

V. Signs: Deep fissures, grooves and folds of Tongue

  1. Deep median sulcus
  2. Deep transverse furrows across Tongue dorsum

VI. Associated Conditions

  1. Down Syndrome
  2. Sjogren Syndrome
  3. Geographic Tongue
  4. Melkersson-Rosenthal Syndrome (rare)
    1. Triad of Fissured Tongue, relapsing Facial Edema, Facial Nerve Palsy

VII. Differential Diagnosis

  1. Syphilitic Glossitis causes longitudinal Tongue furrows

VIII. Management

  1. Treat underlying causes (esp. Xerostomia)
  2. Stroke Tongue 15x with Tooth Brush after meals, bedtime

IX. Complications

  1. Food debris accumulates in crevices and can irritate

Images: Related links to external sites (from Bing)

These images are a random sampling from a Bing search on the term "Fissured Tongue." Click on the image (or right click) to open the source website in a new browser window. Search Bing for all related images

Related Studies

Related Topics in Tongue Disorders

advertisement