Smooth tongue

What it means

Glossy appearance of the entire tongue surface.

This is due to reduction in number and/or size of the filiform papillae. A geographic tongue has localized areas of smoothening, but not sufficient to warrant use of the term Smooth tongue.

Rare diseases that can present with this4

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Atrophy of dorsum of tongue · Atrophy of lingual surface · Atrophy of tongue surface · Smooth dorsum of tongue · Smooth lingual surface