Prevalence and clinical symptoms of geographic tongue in pregnant women

Introduction: “Geographic tongue” or benign migratory glossitis is a tongue disorder which causes pain and dysfunction and its persistence leads to cancer phobia. Based on some reports, hormones (especially female sex hormones) are associated with geographic tongue development or exacerbation. Geographic tongue might be confused with lichen planus and candidiasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of the lesion with pregnancy and its changes during each trimester. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive, analytical and cross-sectional study, 451 eligible cases were selected. After clinical examination and completion of questionnaires, if geographic tongue was diagnosed, photographs were taken and compared between the three trimesters. Data was analyzed with chi-squared test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient at a confidence interval of 95%. Results: The prevalence of geographic tongue in pregnant women was 36.8%. There were no significant relationships between the number of pregnancies, age and the frequency of the lesions. However, there was a significant relationship between the ectopic lesions and the fissured tongue (p value = 0.001) and also between the gestational age and geographic tongue lesions (p value = 0.043). The lesions were most prevalent in the second trimester, but in third trimester, prevalence of severs lesions decreased. Conclusions: Under the limitations of the present study, prevalence of geographic tongue in pregnant women was higher than previous reports in other communities. Severe lesions were more prevalent in the second trimester. Key words: Benign migratory glossitis, Hormones, Pregnancy.