Tongue: Health Indicator

If the tongue had not been framed for articulation, man would still be a beast in the forest- Ralph Waldo EmersonPhrase very well explains the importance of tongue. The tongue is the most vital articulator of speech and an essential structure in the oral cavity. It is the strongest muscular organ in the body involved in critical functions.Since the earliest days of medicine, the tongue has been considered a good reflection of systemic diseases .The basic anatomy of tongue is such that unless scrupulous dental hygiene is followed it may lead to pathological lesions.. Assessment of the tongue has historically been an important part of a clinical medical examination as many pathological lesions are seen exclusively on the tongue. Lesions occurring on the tongue are vast and range from developmental disorders to infections to idiopathic lesions to malignancies; some lesions may be clues to the underlying systemic illness. General practitioners/physicians and dentists regularly come across such lesions on tongue in their day-to-day practice.