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What could could be my tongue has yellow stuff on top?

Yellow stuff on tongue?

  • I tend to get this stuff on my tongue. It's irritating as it looks bad and can cause bad breath. I have no idea why I get it, I'm not sick or anything. The only way I can get rid of it is with brushing my tongue like my teeth. That takes a while though, and the mint really gets to me when I do that. Also, the yellow goes kinda far back, further than I can brush without choking. Any solutions, or does anyone even know what it is and why it happens?

  • Answer:

    Bacteria exists in the mouth as well as on our skin and in our digestive tract; it's just a part of being a human. We are all aware of the bacteria in our mouths being found on the teeth, what is known as plaque and how to remove that, but no one really acknowledges that the bacteria settle on soft tissues too, such as the tongue. If you were to look at the surface of the tongue under a magnifying glass you'd notice hundreds of pappilla (what are known as taste buds to most folks) that look like tiny "fingers" sticking up. Bacteria and small amounts of food get stuck down beteen those "fingers", kinda like dirt in a shag carpet. When there is food and bacteria present together, they will create a bad smell and the bacteria will grow and thrive. What you need to do is brush you tonge daily and gently. You don't need to even use toothpaste since that can irritate the soft tissue. It's the brushing action that will remove the bacteria and food debri. Also, don't use an in-and-out motion with the brush, you're more likely to gag yourself that way. Bring the brush in from the side of your mouth and from mid-tongue gently scrape it forward. Repeat as often as necessary to remove as much "gunk" as you can. You don't want to overscrub because you can make your tongue sore and bleed. You can do this 2 times a day. Also they even make tongue scrapers that you can find in the dental aisle of most stores like pharmacies or Walmart. It's just a piece of plastic to use to scrape the tongue. The brush is just as easy. Also, I recommend running the brush under hot water first, that softens up the nylon bristles. From your description I really don't think you have thrush (Candida Albicans), although that was a very good guess from other posters. If this doesn't clear up with brushing, you should follow up with your dentist to see what they might advise. Good luck.

Graham T at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Other answers

Some people get plaque on their tongue. If using your toothbrush gags you, try a tongue scraper, you can pick them up at Wal-mart, Walgreens etc.. It's a little plastic handle and it looks like a rake with very little fine "nubbies". That's what we give our patients. It is a good idea to clean your tongue daily as it harbors bacteria. Good Luck.

leigh womble

Have you taken anti-biotics lately? The stomach not doing its job can cause this, from a lack of proper digestive enzymes killed by the anti-biotics. If so, try eating some whole organic yogurt to replenish the digestive tract (for acidopholous deficiency). If you are still taking antibiotics, tell your doctor and ask him if you should stop. If not from antibiotics, you definately have a deficiency. taking vitamin supplements or improving your diet should fix this. Get lots of greens in your body!!

gaia_fanatic

do you use any inhalers with steroids in them...my son had something like that from a steroid he was on the doctor called it thrush and he had to take a medicine to get rid of it...not sure if that is what you have or not but if you are on any steroids or inhalers with steroids in them it could be

concerned

My solution is go see your dentist ASAP. You may have some disease...fuzzy tongue

Rich W

Usually that is toxins/candida. The pictures you saw were likely the most extreme case senarios. Most of the time candida or other toxins causes a white or yellow coated tongue and that's about it. Possibly even a greyish look. I've had it myself. You may wish to try and candida diet, which is actually very healthy anyway and regardless of your issues, no harm can come of trying it. It is simply eradicating sugar in all forms (you may initially have to even eliminate milk and fruit temporarily), eliminate yeast and gluten grains (possibly all grains). You concentrate on eating things like eggs, meats, vegetables (no potatoes, they are too high in natural sugar/starch), perhaps you can eat some raw nuts like almonds/brazil and maybe some plain sugar free acidophilus yoghurt. Including healthy fats in your diet helps also, like butter, olive oil, coconut oil, even lard is found to be ok. Also, if you are worried about the lack of fruit? Remember tomatoes are actually a fruit, and you can eat them as much as you want. You can also include some lemon too. But intially the rest of the fruits need to remain off the diet until you have this under control. Drinking water or herb tea are the only options for liquid intake. It seems a big thing, but it's not. It's just diet and at first you will feel "deprived" and crave, but that passes if you stick to the programme. Yeast may begin to starve (if you have overgrowth) and you may feel worse initially before you feel better. If you haven't got a yeast issue, this diet shouldn't cause any symptoms. If it does and you get things like headaches, tiredness, even feeling quite drunk, you can pretty much rest assured that you may have nailed your problem. It's actually a very interesting experiement to do and you maybe surprised at what happens if you try it. At least you know it' not a dangerous experiment and the worst it can do is possibly improve your health regardless.

Gus

this could be a yeast build up, do you eat lots of bread, sugar ect... if so, tryin not eating any type of carbs like bread flour, sugar,beer for a couple of days, if it goes away, look at your diet, and cut back on foods with yeast.,

sideburntt

It sounds like a candida infection. The dentist would prescribe Nistatin for that. Alot of things cause it. Smoking, change in medications that alter your immune system, Hormone therapy or steroid therapy lead to it it. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to it as well. Nistatin will usually clear it up.

Dr. Katie

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