A case of black hairy tongue in a newborn infant

Abstract

Black hairy tongue (BHT) is a rare disease, especially in a newborn infant. To the best of our knowledge, only a few cases in infants have been reported in the literature. These cases were reported to be associated with long-term administration of antibacterial agents, fungal infections, developed spontaneously, or were related to bacteremia. In addition, this disease cannot be treated with the same medications as those used in adults, because the safety of those agents in newborns has not been established. Therefore, treatment should be designed to maintain proper oral hygiene by cleaning with a tongue brush and eliminating causal factors by withdrawing antimicrobial agents or taking other appropriate actions. We present a case of BHT in a 4-week-old newborn infant. In this patient, microorganisms and filamentous foreign bodies adhered to the filiform papillae, without fungal infection. The patient had not received antibiotics. We recommended brushing the tongue with a toothbrush several times a day, and the lesion consequently disappeared. Our case is probably the youngest case of BHT to be ever reported.