Causes of White Tongue & Home Remedies to Get Rid of it

White tongue can be very troublesome but the fact is that it can be just the face of an underlying problem. It is necessary to know the causes of white tongue to be able to manage the condition well. Along with the respective treatments for the causes, certain home remedies to get rid of it may be of great use to you.

Some of the major causes of white tongue could be an infection. It is basically the accumulation of bacteria which gets reciprocated as white tongue. Though, white tongue does not cause any harm to your overall health but it should not be ignored at all as it can indicate some serious conditions or infections in the body.

Some of the causes of white tongue include:

• Poor Oral Hygiene, Dental Problems: People suffering from white tongue problem may have oral health issues which often includes dentures.
• Some common causes of white tongue also include gastric problems like indigestion, acid reflux and
• Alcohol use, smoking and tobacco use
• Faulty diet, spicy food, such as habanero and jalapeno peppers
• Candida yeast infection or oral thrush and other oral problems too are some of the causes of white tongue.
• Congenital heart disease in adults
• Fever, illness and infection can also cause white tongue in many cases.
• Excessive use of antibiotics, steroids or reaction to medications
• Dehydration and dry mouth are also some of the common causes of white tongue.
• If you have excessive dry mouth, enough saliva is not produced in your mouth which leads to xerostomia. Saliva has a prominent role to play in keeping oral health up to the mark. When adequate saliva is not present in your mouth, it leads to failing of removing the debris and food particles from the mouth.
• Sjögren’s syndrome is a serious condition in which excessive dryness in mouth is caused and can be treated through adequate medications.
• If your immune system is weak and has been troubling for a long time, it can, for the obvious reasons lead to burning sensation and there are produced white lacey streaks in the tongue. This condition is termed as oral lichen planus.
• Deficiency of vitamin B too can sometimes cause a white tongue.

Other serious infections, repeated mouth ulcers can be other causes of white tongue.

Depending on the causes of white tongue, appropriate treatment must be planned. For most mild causes of white tongue, home remedies to get rid of it can be very effective.

• Hydration: Make sure you are drinking enough water to ensure enough proper production of saliva to keep dryness or xerostomia away.
• Gargle: Saline water gargle is an excellent home remedy that helps to keep your mouth free of germs and get rid of white tongue.
• Oil Pulling: Oil pulling with coconut or olive oil is also a popular home remedy to get rid of white tongue.
• Probiotic: Adequate intake of probiotics is very crucial in reducing fungal infection of mouth
• Apple: Eating an apple a day, can also help to keep at bay all sorts of oral problems
• Glycerin: You may also use glycerin which soothes the tongue and removes white plaque buildup. This too is one of the effective home remedies to get rid of white tongue.
• Aloe Vera Juice, which has great anti-inflammatory properties, helps in healing the infections and soothes irritation in mouth. Using this home remedy can show great results in getting rid of white tongue.
• Baking Soda: Exfoliating your tongue with baking soda is very effective in removing plaque build-up in mouth and aids slashing down the acids in your mouth. Try this home remedy to get rid of white tongue.
• Garlic: Using garlic as a home remedy also helps in treating the oral infections as it is rich in allicin which stunts the growth of several germs.
• Tongue Scraping: Going for a more traditional way, you should consider tongue scraping with copper scraper. Scrap tongue twice a day and after meals so that your tongue has no space for plaque build-up and white tongue, which also leads to bad breath
• Colloidal Silver: This remedy may prove to be quite expensive, but use of colloidal silver really helps your mouth a lot. Swishing your mouth with a tbsp. of colloidal silver and water is very beneficial in removing plaque from the tongue.
• Hydrogen Peroxide: Another common home remedy to get rid of white tongue is the use of hydrogen peroxide with water twice a day. You can brush with this for up to 4 days which helps a lot in curing you from the problem related with white coated tongue.
• Turmeric with Lemon Juice: Using turmeric with lemon juice is very much in fashion. You can use this home remedy by making a paste you may rub it on your tongue to get rid of the problems related with plaque build-up.
• Indian Lilac: Use Indian lilac and dry its leaves, add some of these dried leaves in boiling water. Thereafter, cool this water and gargle it after rinsing your mouth, twice a day. This is an effective home remedy to get rid of white tongue.

One of the easiest home remedy for white tongue is rinsing your mouth after every meal. This helps a lot in removing the substances from your mouth which aid in white tongue problems. Also, you should avoid using the dairy products and reduce alcohol intake so that you can keep your mouth in a good health condition.

Eating nutritious food helps to keep away the oral health problems. Eat strawberries and guava which is very helpful in treating oral and dental problems and cleans away plaque which builds up on tongue. More than juices, rely on water so that it helps effectively in keeping your mouth really clean and free from germs.

After trying these home remedies, if the problem still persists, it is necessary to get evaluated for further investigation and treatment.

Also Read:

• Geographic Tongue: Causes, Symptoms, Signs, Treatment
• Tongue Scraping: Benefits, Disadvantages, Tools for Tongue Cleaning
• How a Tongue Color Can Reveal Imbalance in Health?
• Sore Tongue: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Natural Home Remedies
• Oral Thrush: Causes, Risk Factors, Investigations, Treatment, Home Remedies, Prevention