Coated tongue

Coated tongue
• It is a buildup of oral debris and bacteria on the tongue

• It is common in febrile illness, particularly in cases with oral painful

lesions (e.g. scarlet fever, primary herpetic gingivostomatitis, herpes
zoster, erythema multiforme, pemphigus vulgaris, etc.) It could also
be the beginning of thrush symptoms.

• the etiology of coated tongue is unknown

 Excessive
smoking Radiation
Emotional therapy of
stress head and neck

medication
Lack of
tongue Predisposing
mobility
factor Poor oral
hygiene

Disturbance
of saliva flow Bacteria and
candida
Soft diet infections
Febrile condition
Clinical features
• white or whitish-yellow thick coating on the dorsal surface of the tongue
(lengthening of the filiform papillae, by up to 3–4 mm, and accumulation of
debris and bacteria)

• appears and disappears within a short period.

• Another symptom is a sticky feeling in the mouth and foul breath.

• cavities and rotting teeth

Kojima Index for Tongue Coating (Panov and
Krasteva, 2012)