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Although rare, white tongue is sometimes a symptom of oral cancer.
Make an appointment with your doctor or dentist if: You're concerned about changes in your tongue. Your tongue hurts. Your white tongue persists for longer than a few weeks.
Some of the first signs of tongue cancer often include a painful lump or sore on the side of the tongue that may bleed easily and resist healing. Mouth or tongue pain is also a common symptom. Other painful symptoms include: Persistent jaw pain.
The lump often looks like an ulcer and is grayish-pink to red. The lump bleeds easily if bitten or touched.
Mouth sores that easily bleed and do not heal. Loose teeth. Red or white patches on the tonsils, gums, tongue, or the mouth lining. Having a thickening or a lump on the cheek, gums, lips, or neck.
Although the appearance of white tongue may be alarming, the condition is usually harmless and temporary. However, white tongue can be an indication of some serious conditions, ranging from infection to a precancerous condition.
Oral Thrush
Oral thrush can cause a white or yellow film to form on the tongue and can cause discomfort when eating and drinking. Thrush is caused by an overgrowth of yeast in the mouth, which can be a result of poor oral hygiene, a weakened immune system, or antibiotics.
A white tongue can be a sign of a health condition, such as lichen planus, leukoplakia, geographic tongue, mouth ulcers or oral thrush. But do not self-diagnose. See a GP if you're worried.
sometimes, white or red patches on the lining of the mouth or tongue These can be early signs of cancer, so they should also be checked.
An oral precancerous lesion, also called dysplasia, is a growth that contains abnormal cells confined to the lining of the oral cavity, or mouth. This lining is called the mucosa. It covers the inside of the cheeks, the inside of the lips, the gums, the tongue, and the roof and floor of the mouth.
Tongue cancer is a form of cancer that begins in the cells of the tongue. Several types of cancer can affect the tongue, but tongue cancer most often begins in the thin, flat squamous cells that line the surface of the tongue.
Oral cancer lesions can be often asymptomatic until they are advanced, and the progression can occur rapidly.
"There are two basic ways that oral cancers present in the mouth — as white patches or red patches," says Dr. Kain. "Red patches are a bit more concerning than white patches, but either needs to be evaluated if it doesn't go away after several weeks."
If there is a thick, white coating, you may have a condition called “Candidiasis,” which is an overgrowth of yeast in the body. If the coating is yellow, it could indicate major digestive stagnation, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or liver/gallbladder disease.
White tongue is the result of an overgrowth and swelling of the fingerlike projections (papillae) on the surface of your tongue. The appearance of a white coating is caused by debris, bacteria and dead cells getting lodged between the enlarged and sometimes inflamed papillae.
The most common cause of a white tongue is poor oral hygiene. Small bumps on the tongue called papillae can swell up and become inflamed in a mouth that is not cared for well. Plenty of germs, debris, food particles, and dead cells can get stuck between these papillae.
Tongue cancer is relatively rare, representing nearly 1 percent of newly diagnosed cancer cases in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). However, it's one of the more frequently diagnosed forms of head and neck cancers.
Age: The average age at diagnosis for oral cancer is 63, and more than two-thirds of individuals with this disease are over age 55, although it may occur in younger people, as well.