Table 4: Summary of the different kind of atrophic disease of the tongue.

Diagnosis Epidemiology Aetiology Symptoms Treatment
Median Rhomboid glossitis It affects 0.001%-1% of the population Candida infection Usually asymptomatic,
burning or itching possible
Application of antifungal medicaments
Geographic tongue/benign migratory glossitis Prevalence range from 1% to 2.5% Unknown Often asymptomatic, sometimes burning sensation None, if associated with burning mouth syndrome it is possible to apply topical steroid
Atrophic glossitis Incidence between 1.3-9% Nutritional defiencies or underlying disease Asymptomatic Treatment of the systemic disease (if present) and administration of nutritional supplement (see Table 1)