Prevalence of tongue lesions among Turkish schoolchildren

ABSTRACT

To collect data on the prevalence of tongue lesions of Turkish schoolchildren in 3 different population samples in Ankara, and to analyze the relationship between tongue lesions and gender, oral hygiene, and income levels. Nine hundred and six schoolchildren aged 6-12 participated in this study between March 2004 and July 2004 in Ankara, Turkey. Of the 906 schoolchildren, 442 were girls and 464 were boys from 3 primary schools. We examined all the children for the presence of the following tongue lesions 1] ankyloglossia, 2] bifid tongue, 3] fissured tongue, 4] geographic tongue, 5] median rhomboid glossitis, 6] lingual thyroid nodule, 7] atrophic tongue, 8] hairy tongue, 9] crenation tongue, 10] furred tongue, 11] macroglossia, 12] microglossia, and 13] lingual or sublingual varicosities. Of the 906 subjects, we detected 45 subjects with tongue lesions with a prevalence of 4.95%. We found lesions more frequently in boys [6%] than in girls [4.5%]. However, these results were statistically insignificant. Oral lesions commonly found were geographic tongue [1.8%], ankyloglossia [1.3%], fissured tongue [0.9%], bifid tongue [0.4%], hairy tongue [0.2%] and macroglossia [0.2%], lingual thyroid nodule [0.1%]. We did not find any of the following lesions median rhomboid glossitis, atrophic tongue, crenation tongue, furred tongue, microglossia, lingual, or sublingual varicosities. The tongue has a special importance due to its localization. It can readily affect a patient's social life because of lesions and various symptoms. The localization of tongue may also play important role in diagnosis for systematic, hormonal, and allergic disorders