Transient infantile lingual leukoplakia: An underrecognized cause of white tongues in infancy

Abstract

AbstractWe have observed a distinct phenomenon of transient oral lingual leukoplakia in infancy and report 22 healthy infants with gray–white plaques on the dorsal tongue with sparing of the tip from four medical centers in three countries. The onset of the eruption ranged from 1 week to 7 months of life and resolved in 19 patients (86%, with 3 patients lost to follow‐up). None of the eight patients examined at 1 year of age had residual findings. We believe this is a common entity that can be distinguished from oral candidiasis on clinical and/or laboratory examination and name this entity “transient infantile lingual leukoplakia.”