Tongue
Dorsal
Inspect the dorsum of the tongue.
Lateral
The margins of the tongue are common areas for precancer or cancer and are easily missed by an incomplete examination.
- Retract the cheek with a finger, tongue blade, or mirror.
- Inspect the lateral margins of the tongue as far back as possible.
- Grasp the tip of the tongue with a gauze pad to facilitate this part of the examination.
- Posterolateral tongue margins are cancer-prone areas.
- If you need to hold the light sources and grab onto the tongue, have the patient retract their cheek with their finger to improve visualization of the lateral tongue.
Dorsal Tongue
Left Lateral TongueÂ
Ventral Tongue
Right Lateral TongueÂ
Mark Deutchman, MD