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Why Do I Have Cracks In My Tongue?

When you stick your tongue out and look in the mirror, what do you see? Is your tongue smooth or are their cracks running across it? Is there one big line running down the middle or various cracks on the tongue spread out in every direction? It could be linked to a syndrome or deficiency. Fissured tongue is not to be confused with geographic tongue, but there are some instances where the two could possibly be related.

Cracked Tongue

Is it normal to have cracks on your tongue’s surface? No and yes. A typical tongue doesn’t usually have “big” cracks or deep grooves. But having a fissured tongue isn’t rare enough to say that it’s totally abnormal. Even though there are medical conditions linked to cracks on the tongue, a perfectly healthy person could still have tongue fissures without anything else to worry about. However, seriously deep or infected cracks on the tongue could be a cause for alarm for your oral health.

What is a Fissured Tongue?

A fissured tongue is when there is a crack or separation in the top of the tongue, creating a miniaturized version of the Grand Canyon running down the middle or across the top of it.

Cracks in tongue can be called a variety of different things, but they all tie back to a fissured tongue. The condition is also referred to as “lingua plicata”, “scrotal tongue”, and “plicated tongue.” But all of them are essentially the same thing.

Even though a fissured tongue may look really weird when you stick your tongue out, most people won’t even realize you have it unless you purposely show them.

Fissured tongues have visible tongue cracks running through the dorsal surface. The dorsal surface is the top surface that you typically look at when you stick your tongue out; it’s covered in tiny papilla and tastebuds. The fissure may run right through the middle, front to back, or there could be multiple various cracks across the dorsal surface. You’re unlikely to see cracking on the softer mucosa on the bottom of the tongue (ventral surface.)

Fissures are pretty obvious when you look at them. Although it’s completely normal to have at least some type of a line running down the middle of your tongue, it isn’t normal to have a deep crack.

Symptoms Of Cracked Tongue

Someone with a cracked tongue won’t usually have physically raw or bleeding skin exposed. But what they will notice is that when they look at their tongue in the mirror, there are visibly deep cracks and fissures where the papilla do not touch one another side by side. Aside from the visible symptoms, very rarely are there physical ones that accompany fissured tongues.

That being said, people who have a cracked tongue but do not do a very good job of cleaning it are more likely to have problems with bad breath (halitosis.) Since those deep crevices can easily harbor bacteria—and most bad breath bacteria are found on the tongue—it can be a lose-lose situation unless they’re keeping their tongue extremely clean.

Occasionally, a fissured tongue will accompany conditions like geographic tongue. And geographic tongue tends to feel sensitive or even like raw skin, which can make talking, chewing food, or swallowing very painful.

What Causes of Fissured Tongue

Your tongue is covered in thousands of tiny fingerlike projections called papillae/papilla. There are several different conditions that can cause the appearance of your papilla to change, whether it’s growing longer (black hairy tongue) or even falling off altogether (like when someone has geographic tongue.) In the instances where the tongue forms physical cracks or crevices between the papilla, a fissured tongue appears.

It’s estimated that somewhere around 5% of people have these cracks on their tongue. Some of them are born with it, while others develop it later on. Experts believe it typically forms as people get older, depending on their underlying medical factors.

Even though we know cracks on the tongue are linked with certain medical conditions, oral medicine experts still do not know the primary cause of fissured tongue. But they do feel that it’s somewhat linked with geographic tongue, which we have a much better understanding of. Cracked tongues aren’t something that’s alarming to the point your dentist or doctor would order a biopsy, so it’s nothing to start stressing out over.

Vitamin Deficiencies

It’s known that certain vitamin deficiencies can contribute to symptoms like burning tongue, and possibly fissured tongue as a result. Deficiencies in iron (which can cause anemia), as well as B2, B12, and zinc, are all closely related to tongue health. We know that people who are anemic can develop an “anemic tongue” where their tongue smooths out because of papilla loss, and even sometimes get cracks in their tongue.

Malnutrition

Considering that vitamin deficiencies contribute so strongly to tongue fissures, it’s important to consider how malnutrition or malabsorption can contribute to oral irregularities. The overlap between gastrointestinal health (like Crohn’s disease) and the oral cavity could also tie back to a deficiency in caloric or nutritional intake. But in areas of the world with food shortages or where patients have come from situations where they battled malnutrition, any signs of a fissured tongue could be related to their diet history.

Treatment for Tongue Cracks & Fissured Tongue

There isn’t an actual treatment to repair cracks on the tongue, so it’s important to identify risk factors or medical conditions that may require the attention of your physician.

Since cracks in tongues can accumulate food particles and plaque biofilm, it’s important to brush your tongue well daily. This will help manage potential bad breath or infections inside of the cracks on your tongue.

Talk with your dentist about other ways to clean the cracks or fissures in your tongue without causing additional discomfort or damage, such as a water flosser or tongue scraper.

(07/11/2023)
by Whitney DiFoggio BS, RDH

More Information: https://www.teethtalkgirl.com/dental-health/cracks-in-tongue

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