Assessment of Tongue Coating Characteristics as an Adjunct Indicator of Oral and Systemic Health
Keywords:
Tongue coating; Oral health; Oral hygiene; Dental examination; Xerostomia; Clinical assessment; Preventive dentistry.Abstract
Tongue coating has traditionally been regarded as an indicator of oral hygiene, but growing evidence suggests possible associations with systemic health conditions. This observational study assessed tongue coating characteristics among adult dental outpatients and explored their relationship with oral hygiene status and selected systemic health indicators. Coating thickness, distribution, and color were documented using standardized clinical examination. Poor oral hygiene, tobacco use, and xerostomia were associated with increased tongue coating. While tongue appearance should not be considered diagnostic of systemic disease, careful examination may provide useful clinical information that complements routine oral assessment. Additional longitudinal research is required to clarify potential systemic associations.
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Copyright (c) 2019 Mei Lin Zhou, Tran Quang Minh, Sora Kim, Chae-Won Lee (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction, adaptation, and commercial use in any medium, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.
