The Occurrence of Tongue Lesions among Dental Outpatients Attending Khanzad Dental Polyclinics Center in Erbil City

Abstract

Background: The tongue can be targeted by a wide range of pathological conditions; the recognition of tongue lesions may be helpful in the early diagnosis of some systemic disorders. Objective: To determine the frequency and relation of the tongue conditions with risk factors among a group of dental outpatients attending a specialized dental polyclinics center in Erbil city, for individuals who are aware of their tongue lesion when to exist, and to estimate the possible coincidence between some of the tongue lesions with age, gender, smoking, alcohol drinking habit, allergic reactions, and systemic diseases. Patients and Methods: 1100 patients were examined for a period of 3 months from October 1st , 2019 – December 31st , 2019. Results: The frequency of tongue conditions was 52.8%, the study sample consists of 520 males 47.3%, and 580 females 52.7%. The age range was from 0.58 to 85 years, and 112 patients had one or more systemic diseases 92 of them were on regular medications. The most common frequent condition was fissured tongue diagnosed in 420 patients 38.2%. Conclusion: The common risk factors for tongue conditions in this study were old age, male gender, smoking, alcohol consumption, and medication intake, around one quarter (25.6%) of the sample has a family history of tongue condition.