What Causes a White Tongue?

Hereditary or familial disease.
White hairy tongue

Guan Xiaobing	(Chief physician)	Department of Oral Mucosa, Beijing Stomatological Hospital
Fu Jie	(Attending physician)	Department of Oral Mucosa, Beijing Stomatological Hospital

White sponge-like nevus is called white fold disease, soft leukoplakia, familial white fold mucosal hyperplasia and so on. It is an inherited or familial disorder of unknown cause. Generally asymptomatic does not require treatment.

Western Medicine Name: White cavernous nevus
Other name: White fold disease, familial white fold mucosal hyperplasia

Affiliated Department: Department of Physiology-Stomatology
Main cause: genetic factors

Causes of white cavernous nevus

Hereditary or familial disease.

Clinical manifestations of white cavernous nevus

1. Infant and early childhood onset, puberty develops rapidly, and tends to rest in adulthood.

2. Occurs in the buccal mucosa, the floor of the mouth, and the tongue and abdomen, as well as in the nasal cavity, vagina, and anus.

3. The lesions can be off-white wrinkles or grooves.

4. Off-white / pearl color, water wave-like, scattered follicles on the surface, like sponge, soft and elastic.

5. The minor folds can be removed without pain and bleeding, and the underlying mucosa is normal.

Diagnosis of white cavernous nevus

1. Diagnosis is based on family history and clinical manifestations.

2. Perform pathological examination if necessary.

Differential diagnosis of white cavernous nevus

1. White spots: white patches with rough and hard surface, which cannot be removed. Some white spots can become cancerous.

2. Lichen planus: Occurs in middle-aged women, and the lesions are white reticulation or stripes, which are distributed symmetrically. Skin lesions are purple-red polygonal pimple with itching.