That may sound strange, but your tongue can tell a lot about your health. For example, a black and hairy looking tongue can signal poor oral hygiene, or diabetes. If your tongue is bright red like a strawberry, it could signal a deficiency in folic acid, vitamin B12, or iron.
A pink tongue is healthy and normal. A red tongue may indicate heat in the body like a fever or a hormonal imbalance. A reddish purple tongue is a sign that there may be inflammation or an infection in the body. A pale pink tongue may be a sign of a vitamin deficiency, a weak immune system or a lack of energy.
Instead, taste buds that detect sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami are scattered throughout your tongue. Some parts of your tongue are a bit more sensitive to certain tastes.
An unhealthy tongue. If your tongue is a different colour than pink, or has large patches of white, brown, black, or another colour, this might indicate a specific health issue. Similarly, if you have large bumps or no bumps at all, you may also want to speak to a doctor.
Healthy tongue color is pink, though the specific shades may range from light to dark. A healthy, normal-colored tongue also has small bumps all over its surface. These are papillae. They help you speak, taste, chew and swallow.
If you have fissures in your tongue, it's likely no cause for concern. In fact, certain types of grooves or cracks are considered simply a variation of a normal tongue. Sometimes called a plicated or scrotal tongue, this condition is often harmless. However, it's rarely a good idea to diagnose yourself.
In a healthy mouth, the tissues are pink, firm and moist. If you have a healthy mouth, your breath will smell pleasant or neutral. Healthy gums are firm and pink, not red or white. They are not swollen or sore.
Signs of your body undergoing excessive stress can show up on your tongue as unusual redness, sores, and ulcers. Also, if your tongue appears to have marks around the edges, that could signify consistently biting your tongue as a reaction to stress.
Furthermore, muscles such as the masseter (mastication muscle) are activated during stress and several aspects of saliva are changed (e.g., cortisol levels, flow rates) [6]. As a result, any of these changes could potentially contribute to the increase of purple color in the tongue.
Most often, yellow tongue is an early sign of a disorder known as black hairy tongue. Rarely, yellow tongue may be a sign of jaundice, a yellowing of the eyes and skin, which sometimes indicates liver or gallbladder problems.
White tongue is the result of an overgrowth and swelling of the fingerlike projections (papillae) on the surface of your tongue. The appearance of a white coating is caused by debris, bacteria and dead cells getting lodged between the enlarged and sometimes inflamed papillae.
A white tongue is common and usually nothing to worry about. It often gets better with some hydration and good oral hygiene habits. Brush your teeth and tongue twice a day, and try to reduce the sugar in your diet. Quit tobacco products if you smoke or chew, and cut back on alcohol use.
Sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory tastes can actually be sensed by all parts of the tongue. Only the sides of the tongue are more sensitive than the middle overall.
Tongue thickness measured by ultrasonography, correlates significantly with the severity of liver disease, as assessed by CTP and MELD scores. The patients with a CTP score ≥ 10 have significantly reduced tongue thickness as compared to normal individuals and those with less severe liver disease and CTP scores of 5-9.
Oral manifestations such as lichen planus, ulcers, xerostomia, erosion and tongue abnormalities seem to be particularly prevalent among patients with chronic liver disease.
“Normal tongues are pale red with a pale white coating. Heart failure patients have a redder tongue with a yellow coating and the appearance changes as the disease becomes more advanced.”
A healthy tongue should be pink in color with small nodules called papillae over the surface. Certain medical disorders may cause your tongue to change in appearance, and a color-changing tongue could be your first indication of a severe underlying issue.
Yellow was most often associated with a normal mood and grey with an anxious or depressed mood. Different shades of the same color had completely different positive or negative connotations.
When someone is dehydrated, the tongue appears dry and typically has a white or white-to-yellowish coating. In some cases, the tongue can appear patchy or splotchy. If your tongue commonly sticks to the roof of your mouth, you are dehydrated!
Oral anxiety is the stress effects on oral health. Stress or anxiety can impact your oral health; when you are stressed, your immune system is compromised, and while the cause of canker sores is not proven, there is some correlation or higher likelihood between lowered immune and those nasty painful canker sores.
Unhealthy Gums. If you have healthy gums, they will look firm and pink. Some signs of unhealthy gums include redness and swelling, gums that bleed when you brush or floss your teeth, and gums that appear to be pulling away from the teeth.
Oral mucosa
Abnormal findings include dryness, cyanosis, paleness and Fordyce spots, and signs of disease include canker sores, Koplik's spots (an early indication of measles), candidiasis and leukoplakia.
A study of 1,000 people in 35 countries revealed that the perfect lip shape is all down to symmetry. More than 60% of respondents thought a 1:1 ratio between the upper and lower lip was the most attractive shape. A cosmetic surgeon in London said a heavily-defined cupid's bow is the most-requested lip feature.