How to Diagnose a Black Tongue

Black tongue can be caused by many different things, including smoking tobacco, being severely dehydrated or taking certain antibiotics. Although those are underlying reasons behind the condition, it is ultimately caused by too much bacteria or yeast that grows in the mouth. During this condition, tiny papillae projections, which normally wear away, grow instead into colored bacterial projections. Although the concept can be scary, the condition is not detrimental to your health and can be easily diagnosed and treated.

Instructions

• 1

  Look at your tongue in the mirror. Black tongue is recognizably marked what appears to be a thin, black coat of hair on the back of the tongue, but can also be other colors, including yellow, green or brown. Although it is actually a bacterial overgrowth, it is sometimes called "black, hairy tongue" because the growth looks like tiny hairs.

• 2

  Make a list of your other symptoms, which, in some cases could include a burning sensation on the tongue, a tickling on the roof of the mouth, and sometimes nausea or a gagging condition. Black tongue also causes bad breath, which is the most common symptom.

• 3

  Visit your dentist or doctor. They can make a sound diagnosis based on your symptoms and the causes of the condition that you have engaged in recently.

• 4

  Treat the condition with the treatment recommended by your doctor, which most likely will include vigorously brushing your tongue when you brush your teeth, or using a tongue scraper. Black tongue is not an infection and is not treated with antibiotics or other medicines.