What Causes White Tongue?

What causes white tongue? Dermatologist Dr. Dray covers 5 causes of white spots on the tongue.
0:00 Geographic tongue
1:49 Thrush
4:10 Leukoplakia
5:18 Oral lichen planus
7:01 Tongue psoriasis
10:31 Should you use a tongue scraper?

FTC: This video is not sponsored. Links are commissionable, meaning I may earn commission from purchases made through links.

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Disclaimer: This video is not intended to provide diagnosis, treatment or medical advice. Content provided on this Youtube channel is for informational purposes only. Please consult with a physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health related diagnosis or treatment options. Information on this Youtube channel should not be considered as a substitute for advice from a healthcare professional. The statements made about specific products throughout this video are not to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.

[BlandBanana]

Tongues are such an important but, I think, often overlooked organ. Take care of your tongues, people! 👅❤

[mimih]

Hygienist here! Tongue scraping is not a trend and necessary for MOST of the population, it is basically like this, if you brush the poop off your teeth, then you brush the poop off of your tongue as well. Maintenance of your mouth is all about wound care. we develop micro ulcerations and we have to keep the wounds clean in order for the mouth to heal. Flossing, waterpiking, brushing and tongue scraping should be a nightly routine for optimal oral health. I love your videos Dr. Dray-Cheers!

[Mspla]

How much knowledge do you have ?

Doctor Andrea : Yes.

[pssurvivor]

this lip shade looks so good on you dr dray

[Siberius-]

Teeth Talk Girl (dental hygienist on youtube) got me onto tongue scraping, and it's awesome! My tongue is a nice healthy-looking colour now. Not that it was terrible before (just to be clear, I didn't have a tongue condition), but it's much more pink now. Just don't over-do it at the start, be somewhat gentle (without babying it), and over a week or so it will cumulate and look much better. Not a "once and done" thing.
Another thing that is never mentioned anywhere, is that a healthy visually normal tongue, will almost always still have white on the papilla. Don't over-do the scraping to try and make the tongue PERFECTLY pink with no white, because it's not going to happen. It just greatly improves it.

Another thing is you want to get back as far as you can where the real build-up is. This will usually cause one to gag. A really good way to prevent that, is to close the back of your mouth with your tongue, as you stick it out as far as you can. Then the body doesn't freak out as much, thinking something will go down your throat, because it's blocked. After you do it enough times, you don't have to do that anymore (or I don't).

I use the metal single-hand one like in this video, from Amazon called the "Basic Concepts". Metal doesn't have to be replaced every ~3 months and scrapes better (be careful).

Is tongue scraping MANDATORY? no. Certainly has it's benefits though for oral health, bad breath, and just having a tongue that looks nicer than it did.
Like at the end of this video, is tongue scraping always the answer for when you have white on your tongue? definitely not.

[ChristopherMichael]

Thank you for also advocating for mental health care. ❤🙏🙌

[monicaharris-green]

Thanks for this video. A loved one of mine developed sores on her tongue as a SE of her various Cancer treatments. It made it very hard, miserable to consume anything. Very important video. So important to be mindful of how oral health connects to other issues in the body, and mental health.

[Lisa-dyfr]

I get candida overgrowth when i eat too many floury carbs like bread, pasta & cookies. Immediately clears up when i stop. Tongue scrapers don't help but they're good for general oral health/scraping off the gunk (especially 1st thing in the morning) according to my dental hygienist 🤷

[debbiekotch]

All these conditions are good to know about. I use a tongue scrapper, it helps with morning breath. Thank you Dr. Dray!

[kestrelpounces]

Thanks!! I’ve had an annoying dermatitis at the corners of my mouth recently, which I had started to recognize as fungal. From your description I immediately realized of course it was oral thrush- I hadn’t realized we could get that at the lip commisures. As I started to think “I wonder why-“ you immediately mentioned oral inhalers! Of course I’m on a high dose steroid inhaler. 🤦‍♀️ I’ll start washing my perioral skin when I rinse my mouth after inhaler use! Thank you!!

[madisonburke]

Love this educational and informative video from Dr. Dray! I can’t be the only one, however, who was today years old when they discovered I HATE photos of peoples mouths and tongues!!! Definitely just listened to the audio for this one LOL 😂

[DaisyKmua]

My tongue has been hurting and swollen for years, my doctor keeps saying it's fine. Think I'm finally gonna have it checked

[meggieprice]

My dentist has diagnosed an issue because of my tongue! Traveling today but not through Houston- Dallas this time. 💜💜💜

[MoncœrCoyoteSmith]

Psoriasis is linked to Ankylosing Spondylitis. And if you have AS, many doctors don’t understand how to diagnosis it. Even though it is a common disease, people still end up with calcified spines from doctors not knowing their stuff.
I have bad psoriasis on the tongue, perineal area, behind the ears, scalp, elbows. Also, my SI joint is affected. Doctors have taken makes X-rays and missed it. Now, I’m afraid my SI joint has calcified.

[lees_box]

I used to have a white film on my tongue, nothing like any of these things in this video, but just a general white coating. But I started using Xylitol gum after eating to help oral health and it's gone now.

[nikkil]

My mom has been dealing with an awful issue on her tongue for over a year. No doctor seems to be able to solve it. Her tongue releases salt like crazy. She gets these gelatinous things on her tongue that release salt. Tried all sorts of antibiotics, antibacterial, mouthwashes, etc. no luck. Any ideas?

[thanosfield]

And that one person that points out our blemishes seems to be always present in the company when we go out 😅😂❤ for fun (man did it have to be him or her today with us 😅!). Oral hygiene is essential ❤ taking care of our body as a whole is pretty important and slacking comes with consequences. So incorporating healthy habits and making them in a daily basis turning them into a routine help us build a better lifestyle ❤.

[aleeshasurmon]

How do we tell which one the cause is? Cause they all look pretty similar.

[marylawman]

Thanks for this interesting information. Happy Friday, Dr Dray! I hope you, your sweet momma and little Tybee have a fantastic weekend! 💕

[JSimpson-tpcm]

My white, severely painful tongue was finally diagnosed as burning tongue syndrome. I still have it after 12 years. It’s a neurotransmitter (nerve) issue. An ENT Dr. finally diagnosed it. Klonopin was a great help. There’s no cure. Now I take Lyrica due to other nerve issues & it also keeps it at a low burn. There are still flare ups so I treat the symptoms with Magic Mouthwash (Soothes & numbs) & liquid Dexamethasone (steroid that I swish & spit) that helps heal the sores & inflammation in my mouth. If all else fails & the pain is too horrible to bear, I take prescription pain medicine. Most drs will gaslight you on treating this painful condition, but there are good drs out there who will help. It takes a lot of searching.