Various discrepancies during development of tongue

Abstract

The tongue has a rich nerve supply and can detect not only the usual sensation of touch, pressure, heat and cold but also the special sensation of taste. This well developed sensory capability may be considered as a protective feature as it permits the tongue to ‘review’ substances before they pass into gastro intestinal tract. The tongue is important muscular organ which can also help in diagnosing various systemic diseases as many primary as well as secondary manifestation of various diseases can be seen on tongue. Changes of the tongue are sometimes diagnostically significant. In scarlet fever the atrophy of the lingual mucosa causes the peculiar redness of the strawberry tongue. Systemic disease such as pernicious anemia and vitamin deficiencies, especially vitamin B-complex deficiency, lead to characteristic changes such as magenta tongue and beefy red tongue. As dentists, we are the first to diagnose many systemic diseases by examining tongue. Thus, it is important to be aware of normal features as well as alteration in features for tongue.