Fissured Tongue Causes & Treatments
Dr. B. Kanagasabapathy
[M.D.S. (Ortho), Fellow ICOI]
Do you see deep cracks over your tongue surface?
Don’t worry. It is a common and harmless condition called fissured tongue. In general, our tongue surfaces are covered with the small grooves-like structure called Papillae. Cracked (fissured) tongue happens when one or more shallow cracks, fissures or furrows with different degrees of depth (mostly 2 to 6 mm) occur over the tongue due to any underlying disorders or systemic factors.
This condition is also known as scrotal tongue, lingua plicata.
It is neither infectious nor painful as geographic tongue but certain people might develop discomforts and increased sensitivity. Keep reading to know more about this.
What causes cracked tongue?
The precise cause of fissured tongue is not found but dentists believe it is genetically oriented. Recent researches also show that genes play a crucial role in those tongue cracks.
Such cracks over tongue surfaces, appear apparent in childhood will tend to become severe when we age. This makes the tongue develop a wrinkled appearance. The other possible factor responsible for the fissured tongue is malnutrition.
Lack of minerals and nutrients to feed the oral tissues will negatively affect the mouth, provoking various dilemmas. Cracked tongue is an instance.
On the other hand, tongue cracks might happen with certain syndromes. Common problematic conditions that linked to scrotal tongue include:
- Geographic Tongue
- Melkersson-Rosenthal Syndrome
- Down Syndrome
- Pustular Psoriasis (Severe form of Psoriasis)
- Orofacial Granulomatosis
- Coffin-Lowry syndrome
- Pierre Robin Syndrome
- Fraser’s Syndrome
- Mohr Syndrome
- Down’s syndrome
- Oral-Facial-Digital Syndrome Type I
- ECC syndrome
At times, some medications taken to combat bodily disorders cause allergic reactions that explicit with tongue cracks.
Fissured tongue treatments
As mentioned earlier, cracked tongue is a benign condition. However, dental intervention is necessary because deep grooves over the tongue surface will lead to severe complications.
Remember that the food debris will trap in the cracks and allows harmful microbes to grow. This will end in mild to moderate oral illnesses like bad breath, tooth decay, oral thrush, etc.
Hence we suggest those people with tongue cracks visit dentists once they encounter pain in the tongue. A dental checkup will aid in finding whether the cracks developed due to bacterial, fungal accumulation or underlying conditions.
If the cracks over tongue surfaces occurred with bacterial build-up or syndromes, dentists would recommend suitable treatments to address the syndromes and antifungal medications.
Bottom line
Despite cracked tongue is a harmless condition, it provides a way for bacteria accumulation that associated with various oral complications. Apart from getting treatments, people with tongue fissures should scrape their tongue at least once a day to remove the debris.
In simply, practicing regular oral hygiene activities and making regular dental checkups are the best ways to prevent the further complications provoked by deep cracks on the tongue surfaces.
