Effectiveness of mixture of aspirin and ethanol regimen in the management of geographic tongue: a prospective study

Geographic tongue is usually an asymptomatic inflammatory disorder of the tongue; however, symptomatic cases do occur and require treatment. Several management strategies have been reported yet they are neither specific nor curative.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of an aspirin-ethanol mixture in the management of geographic tongue.

Methods: In this prospective study, an analysis of medical reports of symptomatic cases of geographic tongue managed using an aspirin-ethanol mixture was done. The treatment regimen involved dissolving 3 mg of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) into 1 ml of 70% v/v ethanol. Then a sterile gauze is soaked in the prepared mixture and is topically used to clean the tongue with gentle pressure for 2-3 min.

Results: The records of 23 patients were analyzed. There were more females (19, 82.6%), and the age range of patients was 15-43 years (mean age of 23.4 years). The symptoms that the patient described included: oral discomfort, burning sensations of the tongue, pain, and loss of taste. Only 21 (91.3%) patients were asymptomatic at 3 months of follow-up.

Conclusions: Short-term topical application of the aspirin-ethanol mixture was shown to be effective in treating symptomatic geographic tongue.