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The tongue is moved side to side and inspected; it should be pink, moist, smooth and glistening. Assessment of the ventral (bottom) surface of the tongue is done by having the patient touch the tip of their tongue against the roof of their mouth. If healthy, it should have prominent veins and be pink, smooth, moist, glistening and free of lesions.
The tongue is an important accessory organ in the digestive system. The tongue is used for crushing food against the hard palate, during mastication and manipulation of food for softening prior to swallowing. The epithelium on the tongue's upper, or dorsal surface is keratinised. Consequently, the tongue can grind against the hard palate ...
Tongue coating - food debris, desquamated epithelial cells and bacteria often form a visible tongue coating. [7] This coating has been identified as a major contributing factor in bad breath ( halitosis ), [ 7 ] which can be managed by brushing the tongue gently with a toothbrush or using special oral hygiene instruments such as tongue scrapers ...
Oral tongue cancer is a cancer that happens in the front two-thirds of the tongue, while oropharyngeal tongue cancer forms at the base of the tongue in the back portion of the mouth and can extend ...
The tongue is a fleshy and muscular sensory organ, and the first sensory information is received via the taste buds in the papillae on its surface. If the taste is agreeable, the tongue will go into action, manipulating the food in the mouth which stimulates the secretion of saliva from the salivary glands.
Lingual papillae, particularly filiform papillae, are thought to increase the surface area of the tongue and to increase the area of contact and friction between the tongue and food. [2] This may increase the tongue's ability to manipulate a bolus of food, and also to position food between the teeth during mastication (chewing) and swallowing.
Median rhomboid glossitis is a condition characterized by an area of redness and loss of lingual papillae on the central dorsum of the tongue, sometimes including lesions of the tongue and palate. It is seen in patients using inhaled steroids and smokers, and is usually a kind of chronic atrophic oral candidiasis , but hematinic deficiency and ...
The fimbriated fold of tongue, also plica fimbriata, is a slight fold of the mucous membrane on the underside of the tongue which runs laterally on either side of the frenulum. The free edge of the fimbriated fold occasionally exhibits a series of fringe-like processes. (Fimbria is Latin for fringe).