What Causes a Change in Tongue Color?
Black tongue, also sometimes known as “black hairy tongue” occurs when the bumps on your tongue (the papillae) grow unusually large causing food debris and bacteria to become trapped. These papillae are usually worn down over time and do not cause a problem, but when they do become large, they trap bacteria and begin turning colors as more debris becomes trapped in between your taste buds, a sign you will definitely notice and be rushing off to the local physician or dentist. Black tongue does not indicate cancer, an infection, sores or other illnesses. Black tongue is just an abnormal growth of the normal “bumps” that people have naturally occurring on their tongue. The term “black” tongue is also somewhat of a myth because this particular problem of abnormal papillae can cause several unique shades to form in the back of the tongue including yellow, brown or white. Of course this is less than reassuring to someone wondering if he is going to walk around for the rest of his life looki
