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Tongue Disorders
Your tongue helps you taste, swallow, and chew. You also use it to speak. Your tongue is made up of many muscles. The upper surface contains your taste buds.
Problems with the tongue include
- Pain
- Swelling
- Changes in color or texture
- Abnormal movement or difficulty moving the tongue
- Taste problems
These problems can have many different causes. Treatment depends on the underlying problem.
The top row in the table of contents box contains the following groups:
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Learn More
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Multimedia & Cool Tools
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For group Multimedia & Cool Tools
The bottom row in the table of contents box contains the following groups:
Research
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Reference Shelf
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For You
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Overviews
- Tongue Disorders(Merck & Co., Inc.)
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Specific Conditions
- Black, Hairy Tongue(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Fissured Tongue(American Academy of Oral Medicine)
- Also available in Spanish
- Geographic Tongue(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Glossodynia (Burning Tongue)(Columbia University, College of Dental Medicine)
- Leukoplakia(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Median Rhomboid Glossitis(American Academy of Oral Medicine)
- Also available in Spanish
- Painful Papillae of the Tongue(Columbia University, College of Dental Medicine)
- Scrotal Tongue(Columbia University, College of Dental Medicine)
- Traumatic Injuries of the Lips and Tongue(Columbia University, College of Dental Medicine)
- Yellow Tongue(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
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Related Issues
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So You Want to Pierce Your Tongue?(Academy of General Dentistry)
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Pictures & Photographs
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Hairy Leukoplakia(National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research)
- Hairy Tongue(Logical Images)
- Return to top
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Hairy Leukoplakia
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Health Check Tools
- Mouth or Tongue Lesions(DSHI Systems)
- Mouth or Tongue Swelling(DSHI Systems)
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Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Glossitis(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Glossitis, Benign Migratory(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Tongue Diseases(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Glossitis
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Journal Articles
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
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Dictionaries/Glossaries
- Find an Otolaryngologist (ENT)(American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
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Organizations
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Statistics
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Cancer of the Tongue(National Cancer Institute)
- What Are the Key Statistics about Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancers?(American Cancer Society)
- Also available in Spanish
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Cancer of the Tongue
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Children
- Tongue-Tie (Ankyloglossia)(American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
- Your Tongue(Nemours Foundation)
- Also available in Spanish
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Patient Handouts
- Geographic tongue
- Also available in Spanish
- Glossitis
- Also available in Spanish
- Leukoplakia
- Also available in Spanish
- Macroglossia
- Also available in Spanish
- Tongue biopsy
- Also available in Spanish
- Tongue problems
- Also available in Spanish
- Tongue tie
- Also available in Spanish
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You may also be interested in these related encyclopedia pages:
MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
