Cracked Tongue: Is This Your Case?

The cracked tongue or fissured tongue is an anomaly that’s usually painless and doesn’t affect the daily life of the person who has it too much. Although it’s usually a common anomaly, it should be confirmed that it isn’t caused by any other condition.

What do the cracks in the tongue mean?

The tongue can frequently have cracks or fissures that can vary in shape and location on the tongue. It’s usually an asymptomatic aesthetic peculiarity that at most can cause us halitosis (bad smell in the mouth) but it usually catches the attention of our patients as it looks like a tongue split in two.

In some cases, if the fissures are deeper, they can become bothersome and hurt or sting with some foods, and they can become infected by the Candida albicans fungus, causing oral thrush.

The cracked tongue. Causes:

As we’ve mentioned above, the cracked tongue doesn’t usually have symptoms, but as patients get older, they can have some complication and it’s an abnormality that can become striking, possibly looking like a tongue split down the middle or a cracked tongue.

Why does the tongue crack?

In most cases the split or cracked tongue with fissures usually appears for unknown reasons and at any moment of our life.

In some patients the cracks in the tongue can be caused by genetic reasons, but in others they can be due to the following factors:

• Down syndrome
• Tobacco or Alcohol
• Vitamin B deficiency
• Allergies or a reaction to medication
• Stress and anxiety
• Diabetes
• Bruxism

Treatment for a cracked tongue

As we said before, the cracked or fissured tongue doesn’t produce symptoms, but as it’s a striking anomaly, patients detect it easily with the naked eye.

In most of our patients no specific treatment will be necessary, but it is advisable to improve our oral hygiene by using proper tooth brushing, dental floss, mouthwash and, in the case of the tongue, we can clean it with a tongue scraper.

By using the tongue scraper we can better clean the food debris that has stayed on our tongue and thereby avoid the appearance of cracks in it, and if they’ve already appeared we avoid them getting infected, with the possible appearance of fungus (oral thrush).

Is there any home remedy to cure the fissured tongue or scrotal tongue? Does hydrogen peroxide work for a cracked tongue?

If we browse the internet we can find some home remedies for fissures in the tongue such as ginger, garlic or some type of infusion, even rinses with hydrogen peroxide:

 None of these remedies are going to help us cure the wounds.

As we’ve said above, the ideal is to rule out at the dental clinic any condition such as fungus in the mouth (oral thrush) and if there’s no condition: the most suitable treatment will be to improve our oral hygiene while waiting for the wounds to heal little by little. 

At our Clínica Dental Doctores Tarazona, our dentists will assess the tongue and recommend the most appropriate guidelines so that it heals as soon as possible. Don’t hesitate to call us and book an appointment!