Journal Article

Treatment of a hairy tongue with a new type of dental water jet producing ozonized water

Viganò, L, Casu, C

2017

Overview

Black hairy tongue (BHT) is a benign condition characterized by a discolored, hairy appearance of the dorsal tongue. The prevalence of BHT is not known because its occurrence is highly variable among different populations and dependent on many factors; BHT is more common in men, elderly patients, smokers, HIV-positive, edentulous and also oncologic patients. The lesion is distributed on the dorsal aspect of the tongue and does not involve the lateral and the tip site of the tongue. The most common discoloration in this condition is black to blackish-brown, but it can present with green or yellow discoloration or can lack pigmentation altogether. This desease is often asyntomatic, but sometimes is associated with alitosis, limphoadenopathy, burning or tickling sensation. Besides poor oral hygiene, many substances and medications could cause, aggravate, or predispose a patient to BHT, for example, smoking tobacco, excess consumption of beverages such as black tea, coffee, alcohol, oxidizing mouthwashes, and also intravenous drug use are linked to an increased prevalence of BHT. This condition is benign, self-limiting, and the diagnosis is based on clinical presentation. First-line treatments include avoiding associated medications, practicing good oral hygiene, discontinuing habits predisposing to BHT, and gentle brushing or scraping of the lingual mucosa. The aim of this work is to report a case of hairy tongue in a 18 years old female patient, with no systemic pathology, undergone to antibiotic therapy, treated through a device for oral hygiene \"Aquolab\" that produce ozonated water. It is a dental water jet that mixes water and ozone, resulting in an anti microbial action on treated surfaces, especially gums. Water and ozone levels are adjustable through 3 ozone concentration programs and 2 for the water dispensing seconds. Two 60-second cycles with program 2 are performed by directing the jet of water-ozone mixture onto the dorsal surface of the tongue for both water and ozone regulation without any final rinse. The same told us the next day a significant improvement in burning sensation and the next one-week control, she returned with almost total remission of the lesion. The use of ozonated water for the treatment of oral infections is successfully documented in the scientific literature against various bacterial and mycotic species without adverse effects. We propose this device in the care of hairy tongue, a disorder that afflicts an important proportion of the general population.

• Publisher: CIC Edizioni Internazionali
• Subject: Antibiotics / Benign / Beverages / Black tea / Burning / Case reports / Coffee / Dental materials / Discoloration / Dispensing / Geriatrics / Hydraulic jets / Intravenous administration / Microorganisms / Mouthwashes / Mucosa / Older people / Oral hygiene / Oxidation / Ozone / Patients / Pigmentation / Remission / Scraping / Smoking / Tea / Tobacco / Tongue