Developmental anomalies of tongue

Aglossia

It is a congenital anomaly (i.e. present since birth)

It is a very rare anomaly where is complete absence of tongue or a very rudimentary small portion is present.in most cases there is a congenital defect present along with missing tongue.

Microglossia

It is a congenital anomaly of tongue where there the size of the tongue present is very small. The person faces difficulty in speech, swallowing, chewing.

Treatment

Unfortunately there is no treatment available and the person will have to get accustomed to the situation and train himself accordingly.

Macroglossia

This is a condition in which there is a large tongue present. The tongue is so huge that it occupies the complete space of the oral cavity.

It could either be congenital or happened over a period of time.

If it occurs after birth then the reason is over development  of muscles of the tongue.

It can also occur in association with conditions like tumour of tongue or acrmegaly.

Difficulties faced in macroglossia

• In infants macroglossia can lead to breathing difficulty, difficulty in feeding, drooling of saliva.
• Because of the continuous pressure of the tongue the teeth tend to move apart and the marks of the teeth are seen on the lateral border of the tongue leaving scalloped appearance of the to
• Because the tongue is constantly protruding out it may laed to ulceration of tongue.

Treatment

 Treatment will depend on the cause. If macroglossia is because of over development of tongue then surgical stripping of the tongue can be done.

Ankyloglossia

Ankyloglossia also known as tongue tie is caused because the lingual frenemy is very short and  is fused to the floor of the mouth. The movement of the tongue is restricted in this case. There might be difficulty in speaking clearly (lisping ), difficulty in feeding and swallowing. The person is unable to roll the tongue upward.

Treatment

Frenecto my is the treatment of choice. The frenemy attachment is cut so that speech and swallowing is improved.

Bifid tongue (cleft tongue)

It is a  rare condition in which in the two hlaves of the tongue fail to fuse completely. This leads to formation of a cleft or a  gap between the two halves of the tongue. There is a deep fissure in the midline of the tongue. Complete cleft of the tongue is very rare.

It will cause slight discomfort while eating because of food accumaulation and irritation.

Hairy tongue 

It is a condition caused by hypertrophy of filiform papillae of tongue (explin filiform ) along with increased  accumulation of keratin on the tongue surface.

Mainly seen in heavy tobacco smokers. the papillae get stained because of tobacco making it appear black in colour with hair like projections on the tongue. Sometimes the filiform papillae also appear yellow in colour .

Also occurs because of anemia, radiation therapy, continuous use of antibiotics.

Most of the time there are no symptoms but if there is excessive accumaltion of tongue person might get bad taste in  mouth or experience gagging sensation.

Treatment

Remove the cause.

Maintain very good oral hygiene.

Fissured tongue

It is a very common congenital abnormality which causes numerous grooves and fissures on the tongue. Most of the time it is asymptomatic . very rarely it causes mild discomfort.

It can be a feature of Wilkerson – Rosenthal syndrome and down’s syndrome.

Treatment

Usually no treatment is required . patient has to keep the tongue area always clean as these grooves might act as a source of infection.