In elderly people, a white coating on the tongue may be an early warning sign of a disease, infection, or early cancer. It may also be a simple result of improper oral hygiene. When bacteria and fungi get trapped between the papillae of the tongue, they will cause a coating, which turns white. There are many ways to identify whether your tongue is coated. The most obvious way is by examining the color of the tongue.
Researchers have studied the distribution of tongue coating to determine if it is present or not. Some studies have shown a positive effect of brushing the tongue, while others have found no difference in bacterial counts. This may be due to the fact that the bacteria that colonise the dorsum of the mouth play an important role in producing volatile sulphur compounds, which cause the malodour. This is why brushing the dorsum of the tongue can help protect the mouth from harmful bacteria.
In this study, 74 gastric cancer patients with histologically confirmed GC were enrolled. As healthy controls, 72 volunteers with no stomach discomfort served as healthy controls. The healthy controls were excluded from the study because they had no oral diseases or malignant tumours. The patients with GC were not exposed to any chemotherapeutics or surgery. They had not received antibiotics in the previous two months. The patients in the study were also not treated for periodontal diseases.
If you have a white coating on your tongue, you’re not alone.
A computer-aided tongue diagnosis system can be a useful auxiliary diagnostic tool, if performed properly. Despite its potential benefits, the sensitivity of the system is still very low, and it missed nearly half of the GC patients. Although the computer-aided tongue diagnostic system is a great aid in clinical work, it cannot be considered a definitive diagnostic tool.
The thickness of the tongue coating can help physicians determine the disease. A study in the United States has shown that the thickness of the tongue coating can accurately predict the presence of a disease. This research has the potential to become a useful auxiliary diagnostic tool for patients and dentists. If the research shows that a coating on the surface of the tongue can be used to detect certain diseases, it is an excellent candidate for further investigation.
Other studies have evaluated the prevalence of tongue coating and the microbial composition of the tongue. The majority of species were common to all three groups, but a few were unique. The thickness of the tongue coating was significantly associated with a participant’s oral malodor. The findings also demonstrated a positive relationship between TC and periodontal diseases. The study concluded that a thickened tongue is associated with a high incidence of periodontal diseases.
It can also be an indicator of a disease.
In a follow-up study, Gomez et al. assessed the reproducibility of tongue coating by using a modified method that divides the tongue into nine parts. Each part was evaluated for thickness of the tongue coating, discoloration, and coating thickness. The results showed a 70% intra-examiner agreement between two assessments done a week apart. 강남역치과 This means that the coatings that were applied to the tongue were effective at detecting certain diseases.
A computer-aided tongue diagnosis system, which measures the thickness of tongue coatings, can be a very useful auxiliary diagnostic tool for doctors. A thin coating, on the other hand, might not be as effective as a thick one. However, tongue coatings may be an important indicator of oral thrush, oral cancer, and dehydration. If you’re concerned about the color of your tongue, see your doctor if there’s a white coating on it.
Several different factors are involved in the formation of the tongue coating. During preoperative tests, the coat on the tongue contained bacteria, large amounts of desquamated epithelial cells, blood metabolites, and different nutrients. If the coating is thick and contains bacteria, it indicates that the patient is suffering from a disease. A thick coating is a symptom of a morbid condition. This test is not widely accepted in modern medicine, but it has been used for centuries by Chinese doctors.