NOTE: This story includes photos of “COVID tongue,” which some people might not want to see.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta lists about a dozen symptoms that could indicate you have COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
A British researcher said more need to be added. Specifically, he said, is COVID tongue.
Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, tweeted recently that he is seeing more patients with tongue discoloration and enlargement, in addition to other mouth issues.
Spector, who is also an investigator of the ZOE COVID Symptom Study, which asks Britons to report symptoms via an app, said it’s “important to draw attention to these, skin rashes, covid toes and the 20+ symptoms of covid that go ignored. "
Spector told NBC News the main symptoms he hears about are a “furry coating” of the tongue that can be white or yellow and can’t be brushed away, and a scalloped tongue. The condition can be painful.
“It’s a good reminder that there are so many different manifestations of this virus rather than just the classical ones,” Spector added.
In December, the New York Times reported that several experts had seen COVID patients whose teeth had fallen out, plus other dental problems, such as sensitive gums and teeth turning gray or chipping.
“(S)ome experts say that doctors and dentists need to be open to such possibilities, especially because more than 47 percent of adults 30 years or older have some form of periodontal disease, including infections and inflammation of the gums and bone that surround teeth, according to a 2012 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” the Times reported.
“We are now beginning to examine some of the bewildering and sometimes disabling symptoms that patients are suffering months after they’ve recovered from Covid,” including these accounts of dental issues and teeth loss, Dr. William W. Li, president and medical director of the Angiogenesis Foundation, told the Times.
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