Prevalence of tongue disorders among patients attending the oral medicine clinic at a tertiary hospital in Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: Tongue lesions are health concern to both oral health care providers and the general public. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence of tongue disorders.

Method: This was a retrospective study of the patients who presented at the Oral Medicine Clinic, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria, over a period of 3 years (January 2011 to December 2013). Patients’ records for the period of study were carefully reviewed and all cases of tongue disorders within the study period were selected based on clinical diagnosis. Further confirmation of some of the tongue lesions was done with laboratory and histopathology investigations.

Results: A total of 813 patients were seen during the study period, among which tongue lesions were diagnosed in 84 (10.3%) of the subjects. Males accounted for 39.3% (33), while females accounted for 60.7% (n = 51). Recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU) (19.0%) and oral candidiasis (9.5%) accounted for most of the lesions affecting the tongue. RAU was highest in the third decade (n=6, 7.1%). Geographic tongue affected mostly patients below 30 years of age (n=6, 7.1%). Burning tongue was noticed more in patients over 70 years (n=3, 3.6%) while squamous cell carcinoma (3.6%) was observed in patients above 50 years of age.

Conclusion: This study showed a 10.3% prevalence of tongue disorders. RAU and oral candidiasis were the commonest tongue disorders. Public health education regarding the diagnosis of these lesions is needed because in some cases early recognition of tongue lesions may provide useful diagnostic markers for some diseases.

Keywords: Tongue, disorders, prevalence