Prevalence of Bifid Tongue and Ankyloglossia in South Indian Population with an Emphasis on its Embryogenesis

Abstract

Disturbance in the organogenesis of tongue might lead to some malformations like tongue tie, bifid tongue and hairy tongue. Severe degrees of these anomalies may cause speech impairment or periodontal defects. The present study was done on patients of the southern coastal belt of India during the past two years, on gross tongue anomalies. The results of the present study reveal that occurrence of tongue tie is 0.2% and bifid tongue is 0.3% in the southern coastal population. Since great majority of these oral anomalies have genetic basis the purpose of the present report is to highlight that these anomalies can exist without any familial background and also to suggest that environmental factor may play a role in the etiogenesis of these anomalies.