hairy tongue; black hairy tongue; lingua villosa nigra

Etiology

• idiopathic
• risk factors
  • smoking
  • alcohol
  • poor dental hygiene
  • medications
    • bismuth, tetracycline, minocycline, linezolid

Epidemiology

• more prevalent with advanced age

Pathology

• disruption of desquamation with elongation of tongue filiform papillae, from 1 mm (normal) to >= 3 mm in length
• benign condition, largely cosmetic

Clinical manifestations

* images

Complications

• may stain with a variety of foods, i,e, coffee, tea, berries (black hairy tongue)
• may serve as a substrate for bacterial or fungal growth, exacerbated by xerostomia

Management

• oral hygiene with tongue brushing

More general terms

• sign/symptom
• tongue disease

Additional terms

• benign migratory glossitis (geographic tongue)
• black tongue