PREVALENCE OF TONGUE LESIONS IN STOMATOLOGY TEACHING HOSPITAL- KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

Abstract

Background: The tongue is an important part of dental and systemic health, frequently acting as a mirror for underlying diseases.  Despite their diagnostic value, tongue lesions are poorly understood in impoverished countries such as Afghanistan.  The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and patterns of tongue lesions among dental outpatients at Kabul's Stomatology Teaching Hospital.

Methods:  A cross-sectional study of 14353 adult dental outpatients was undertaken over the course of 24 weeks beginning in October 2024.  To identify common tongue lesions, clinical examinations were performed using WHO (1980) criteria.  SPSS v25 was used to analyze the data, and chi-square tests were used to determine the relationship between lesion prevalence and gender.

Results: 14,353 patients visited Stomatology Teaching Hospital throughout the course of 24 weeks. 

Of these, 651 (4.5%) had tongue lesions.  Females accounted for 57.8% of the cases, with the most affected age group being 18-28 years (46.1%).  The most prevalent tongue lesions were coated tongue (40.6%), fissured tongue (20.4%), and depopulation of the tongue (18.1%).  The fissured tongue had a statistically significant relationship with gender (p = 0.039).  Overall, only 26.3% of patients were aware of tongue lesions.  Females, on the other hand, showed much higher levels of attentiveness.

Conclusion: Coated tongue, fissured tongue, and depopulation were the most prevalent tongue lesions in the studied population. Findings underscore the importance of integrating routine tongue examination in dental visits and highlight the need for educational programs to improve awareness and early detection of tongue abnormalities, particularly among males and younger adults.