Spots on your tongue: causes by color

Black, red, white, brown and other spots on the tongue range from harmless staining to conditions a dentist should see. Each guide explains the usual causes for one type of spot and the warning signs.

• What are the spots on the back of my tongue?The large round spots in a V-shaped row at the back of the tongue are circumvallate papillae, normal taste structures everyone has, and the bumpy area...
• What causes black spots on the tongue?Black spots on the tongue are most often harmless: natural pigment in the taste bumps (common in people with darker skin), surface staining from food,...
• What do red spots on the tongue mean?Red spots on the tongue are most often irritated taste bumps (lie bumps), a minor burn or bite, or the start of a canker sore, and these clear within days...
• What causes spots on the side of the tongue?Most spots on the side of the tongue come from friction or injury: biting, rubbing on a sharp tooth or filling, or a canker sore. The side also has normal...
• Why do I have brown spots on my tongue?Brown spots on the tongue are usually caused by melanin pigment (natural, smoking-related or from certain medicines) or by staining of the tongue coating...
• Why do I have red and white spots on my tongue?Red and white spots together on the tongue are most often geographic tongue (red patches with white borders that move), oral thrush (white patches that wipe...
• What causes purple spots on the tongue?Purple spots on the tongue are usually either visible veins on the underside of the tongue (sublingual varices, very common after 40) or a blood blister...
• Why are there red dots on the tip of my tongue?Red dots on the tip of the tongue are usually fungiform papillae, normal taste bumps that are packed most densely at the tip and turn redder and more...
• What is the yellow spot on my tongue?A single sore yellow spot on the tongue is most often a canker sore: a shallow ulcer with a yellow or white base and a red rim that heals in 1-3 weeks....