Oral infections are very uncomfortable and aren’t easy to heal due to the humid and moist air and conditions inside the mouth. They all make them hard to heal. In addition to pain and uncomfortable feeling, conditions like white coated tongue or oral thrush is making the act of eating as well as talking, a very unpleasant one.
Traditional Chinese medicine gives too much importance to your oral conditions while observing your overall health. If you ever have a visit to a Chinese doctor, the first thing he’d like to look at is your tongue. According to Chinese medicine, the thin white coating is a sign of a normal health, as nothing bad is occurring. But if the white layer is thick, it indicates a problem inside your stomach. Besides the poor hygiene, bacteria multiply in the mouth due to a poor digestive system also.
White coated tongue can occur at any age. While the oral thrush is more common in babies. The reason behind is their fragile immune system that doesn’t yet offer the best protection against any infection. Premature babies are even more exposed. Antibiotics will affect the already too fragile helpful organism and will increase the risk of yeast infections. A mother that is breastfeeding and has taken antibiotics can also pass a large number of fungi, due to her own unbalance, through the milk to the baby. Thus, in this case, the risks are higher.
Difference between White Coated Tongue and Oral Thrush
Here you will find all the relative information about the difference between the white coated tongue and oral thrush, symptoms as well causes behind these conditions and some simple treatments for curing the unwanted symptoms.
White Coated Tongue
Sometimes you may notice that your tongue become white, and you wonder why it is so. Actually, they are bacteria and fungi that grew and spread on your tongue. They cover up the pink cells of the tongue. Thin white coated tongue can be handled by enhancing the personal hygiene of the mouth. It usually goes away if you start brushing with a scraper, gently and rinse it with a lot of water. But if a white coat is thick, and doesn’t disappear after two weeks of intense cleaning, then you should contact a doctor. It may be an indicator of other more severe issues.
Signs and symptoms of white coated tongue
Following are some signs that indicate white coated tongue including:
- The whitish color of tongue, as the debris and bacteria gather up on the surface of the tongue.
- Due to covering of bacteria, the tongue’s buds and cells will not get a proper breathing so that it will get inflamed and swollen. So white coated tongue appears bigger, due to the inflammation.
- Slight coating of the tongue indicates a good digestive system but you may have problem, if the entire tongue is looking white, and you have dry mouth, sore through, pains or discomfort.
Causes of white coated tongue
The most evident causes of white coated tongue are:
- Poor hygiene
- Smoking or alcohol consumption
- dried mouth due to less drinking or eating
- Pureed, too soft or mushy foods can enhance the white coating of the tongue
Tips to get rid of white tongue
Following tips may help you in this regard:
- Since it is a fungal infection, a proper hygiene should solve the problem.
- Gently clean your tongue while brushing your teeth, washing it in a regular manner will prevent the bacteria from growing too much.
- Do not develop a habit of eating soft foods always, it tends to increase the growth of bacteria on your tongue.
- Use a tongue scraper to remove the excess grown bacteria from your tongue.
- Using a good mouthwash or hygiene lozenges can also help improve the situation.
Oral Thrush
Unlike white coated tongue, the oral thrush is an infection caused by a fungus, called as Candida. It is also known as yeast. The thrush will not manifest only in the mouth. It can be easily seen as a diaper rash in babies and vaginal infections in women. Oral thrush can affect anyone, adults, and children.
Symptoms of Oral thrush
Oral thrush has symptoms that are hard to ignore. They include:
- Small and white inflammations on the surface of tongue, they can also spread down the throat and into your swallowing tube.
- They will soar if you try to scrape them with the toothbrush or your teeth, and even bleed.
- To swallow your food becomes difficult and unpleasant.
- Fever may also occur, but only in the case the Candida spread beyond the esophagus.
Causes of Oral thrush
- The main cause of oral thrush is Candida fungus, which is found naturally in our mouth, intestines and even on our skin.
- Medicines like antibiotics, birth control pills, and corticosteroids also destroy our helpful microorganisms, besides the virus.
- As a result, without the guardian that was keeping the Candida under control, the fungus spreads too much, causing oral thrushes or in other parts of the body.
- But besides medicines, some illnesses can also cause the appearance of Candida such as not adequately controlled Diabetes, HIV, cancer, dryness of the mouth or hormonal unbalances due to pregnancy.
Tips to get rid of Oral thrush
It can be treated with medicines as well as with home remedies which are following:
- Anti-fungi treatments are best to solve the matter regarding oral thrush. They may include mouth gels or drops to treat the affected areas inside the mouth.
- Tablets are also used, especially in the treatment of more severe oral thrush cases. Usually, the tablets for oral thrush contain an active substance Fluconazole, which helps remove the excess fungus out of your body and reduce the inflammation caused by it.
- Virgin coconut oil, as it has an active element called Caprylic acid.
- Plain yogurt is helpful.
- White distilled vinegar helps to clean it.
- Diluted baking soda, about 1 tablespoon in 8 oz. of water.
- Rinsing the mouth with salted water can also help. Funguses do not like salt water so that it may suffocate and die.
