Whats the difference between normal plaque on the tongue and Thrush?
Normal tongue plaque is more or less “bacterial slime” (for lack of a better term) that naturally lives in your mouth. It can be easily scraped off, whereas patches of thrush remain and tend to bleed a little when scraped. One of the above posters said that thrush is a bacterial infection… it’s not, it’s fungal, usually caused by a fungus called candida albicans (the same fungus that gives women yeast infections). This fungus lives with our body naturally. We have bacteria in our bodies that keep its growth in check. If something goes wrong with the bacteria (i.e. antibiotics, which kill off good bacteria as well as bad) then the fungus can over grow and cause white patches inside the mouth. A mild case of thrush may not cause any discomfort. Really severe cases can become some painful that it’s hard for the person to eat or talk. Oral thrush is usually treated with an antifungal mouth rinse.
