# What's that white-ish coating that's sometimes on my tongue? \[new title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615 "2003-10-10T03:50:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dillon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@Dillon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dillon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/1 "2003-10-10T03:50:28Z")
I’ve been wondering this for the past couple days. Mainly because I’m to get my tongue pierced soon though. - What’s that white-ish coating that’s sometimes on my tongue? \*What causes it? - How do I get rid of it? (I heard conventional brushing works…) - - Since I can’t think of the word for the life of me, and can’t find it on any site, what’s a word for someone who hates themself? Yeah. Anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/2 "2003-10-10T03:59:26Z")
[Tongue Disorders](http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual_home2/sec08/ch110/ch110c.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/3 "2003-10-10T04:32:13Z")
Welcome to the Boards, and a decent set of questions, but you should choose thread titles that give folks at least some hint about the topic of your post, like maybe “What’s this white stuff on my tongue?” And then, in your post, you can also use the “sticking out tongue” smiley! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/4 "2003-10-10T04:56:22Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Early Out \* > \*\* “What’s this white stuff on my tongue?”_\* TOO easy. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dillon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@Dillon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dillon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/5 "2003-10-11T01:44:11Z")
Q.E.D.: Hommie don’t think so. Early Out: Personally, I don’t see how hinting about the subject of the inquiry in the topic has any relevance at all, considering they would’ve looked at the post anyway. Duckster: Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/6 "2003-10-11T02:40:53Z")
You’re probably talking about geographic tongue. Look at the sticky at the top of the threads on the General Questions thread. You’re specifically asked to give descriptive titiles to threads. When you don’t, you waste the time of people who don’t know anything about the subject (and you cause further overcrowding of the server running the board, which is too slow as it is). ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/7 "2003-10-11T03:00:28Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **Dillon**. Yes, we do appreciate descriptive thread titles. That’s why I have edited the title of this thread. There are a lot of people who have no idea what that white-ish stuff on your tounge is, and they probably don’t want to waste their time and the SDMB’s bandwidth opening this thread just to find out what the question is. Of course the danger now is that there is more than one Doper who thinks like **Q.E.D.** , and they will soon be streaming into this thread to share their witticisms. That’s just the price you pay for posting here. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/8 "2003-10-11T03:06:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bibliophage \* > **Of course the danger now is that there is more than one Doper who thinks like Q.E.D.** Hey now! You know I rarely let my sense of humor loose in GQ. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/9 "2003-10-11T07:59:55Z")
> [@](#): > > … also use the “sticking out tongue” smiley! … Tongue Sticky-Outie [😛](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212770) ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/10 "2003-10-11T12:53:59Z")
I think **Dillon** just means tongue crud, and not an actual scary tongue disorder. If it comes off easily when you brush it with your toothbrush, leaving a nice pink non-hurting tongue, then it’s probably some sort of… uh… crud. Searching online, I see several different things that are blamed for a coated tongue. Bacteria poo, yeast in the mouth, dehydration, acid reflux, various things that bad-breath-remedy people want to sell you cures for… [WebMD.com](http://WebMD.com) says [the following](http://my.webmd.com/content/healthwise/187/58766) about treating a coated tongue at home. (basically just brush and scrape) However, I am not a doctor and I even own a t-shirt that SAYS “not a doctor” on it. So if you decide to do anything except drink more water and brush your teeth/mouth region more conscientiously, which as far as I’m aware are NEVER bad things in moderation, you’re on your own. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody\_s\_Fool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ba8739/32.png) [@Nobody\_s\_Fool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody_s_Fool)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/11 "2003-10-11T13:26:36Z")
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/399218.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/399218.stm) Piercing the tongue can have serious side effects. ---
**Author:** ![Thin\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Thin\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Ice)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/12 "2003-10-11T18:55:20Z")
Do you smoke? If you do it could be smoke residue. ---
**Author:** ![Svt4Him](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@Svt4Him](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svt4Him)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/13 "2003-10-11T19:06:20Z")
My son had thrush, which is a sort of yeast infection…but I have no idea if older people get it. Yes, just found out they do: click [_here_](http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/SelfHelp/conditions/oralthrushadult/oralthrushadult.asp) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-white-ish-coating-thats-sometimes-on-my-tongue-new-title/206615/14 "2003-10-12T04:07:48Z")
Until recently, I thought “thrush” was just a bird. Now I know that use of some asthma drugs make you susceptible to thrush. I also know that the phrase “tongue piercing” brings a pained expression to my dentist’s face. He has repaired several chipped and broken teeth due to tongue jewelry. Speaking of chipped teeth, I don’t recommend nipple piercing. Just today, I asked if the sister of a friend of mine still was wearing a cotter pin in her eyebrow. (Actually, it was a silver stud.) No. It was torn out when she took off a sweater. :eek::eek: