What causes teeth marks on tongue? what to do?

As we all know, the reason why we can taste all the delicious food is because of our tongue. Our tongue not only plays the role of stirring food, but also helps us feel the deliciousness. So why do tooth marks on the tongue occur?

What is the cause of tooth marks on the tongue?

The cause of tongue with tooth marks is mostly due to spleen deficiency which is unable to transport and transform water and dampness. The dampness is blocked in the tongue and causes the tongue to become fat, which is squeezed by the teeth and forms tooth marks. Therefore, tooth marks are often seen together with a fat and tender tongue. On the one hand, the edema of the tongue indicates spleen yang deficiency and excessive dampness. On the other hand, the relaxation of the tongue muscles and insufficient opening of the mouth indicate spleen qi deficiency.

In the Essentials of Clinical Practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is written that “the jagged edge of the tongue indicates stagnation of Qi and blood in the liver.” Other studies have found that compared with a normal pink tongue, the microcirculation changes in a tongue with saw marks are first blood supply disorders, followed by local hypoxia and malnutrition, and finally tissue edema. These mostly indicate that patients with scalloped tongue often have blood stasis as the cause of the disease. Tooth-marked tongue is often caused by qi deficiency, dampness excess, blood stasis and other symptoms. Therefore, the treatment should be flexible according to the patient's condition.

Scalloped tongue main diseases:

——Pale white, moist and with tooth marks, indicating excessive cold and dampness;

——Pale red with tooth marks, indicating spleen or qi deficiency;

——Red and swollen mouth with teeth marks on the edges, mostly due to damp heat and phlegm stagnation;

Qi deficiency type

The tongue is pale red or pale white, with a thin white coating, a plump and tender tongue, and tooth marks on the edges of the tongue. It is accompanied by a pale or sallow complexion, shortness of breath and laziness to speak, a heavy head and swollen body, fatigue, spontaneous sweating, decreased appetite, abdominal distension after eating, nausea and vomiting, loose stools or dry stools followed by loose stools, and a thin and weak pulse. Treatment principle: tonify the middle and replenish Qi.

Wet type

The tongue is pale, moist or slippery, with thick or greasy tongue coating, round, plump and tender tongue with teeth marks on the edges. The limbs feel heavy, tired and weak or the lower limbs are slightly swollen, urination is difficult, the mouth is tasteless without thirst, the appetite is poor, there is rumbling in the intestines and diarrhea, the patient likes to lie down and wants to sleep, and the pulse is slow, deep, dizzy or slippery. Treatment principles: Depending on the different pathogenesis, methods such as aromatic dampness-removing, bitter and warm dampness-drying, light penetrating and removing dampness, and spleen-strengthening and dampness-removing can be used.

Blood Stasis Type

The tongue is old, with petechiae and ecchymosis, the tongue coating is thick, peeled or greasy, the tongue color is blue, purple, crimson or dark, there are petechiae, ecchymosis and ecchymosis under the tongue, and the veins under the tongue are dilated and even tortuous. Common symptoms include pain, lumps, bleeding, cyanosis of the skin or skin cracks, etc. The pulse is thin and wiry, or it may be intermittent, or it may be absent. Treatment principle: promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis.