What is That Bump Behind the Tongue?

Typically in young children, I often have worried parents ask me what that bump is behind the tongue. This bump kind of looks like the picture shown here. The good news is that it is NORMAL and is called the epiglottis. An epiglottis is the "throat flap" the helps prevent food and liquids from going down the wrong way. Although occasionally the epiglottis can even be seen in adults looking in the mouth, this anatomic structure is typically most easily seen in cooperative children. …

3/06/2019 0

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Odactra - Under the Tongue Immunotherapy for Dust Mite Allergy

Website for Odactra The FDA formally approved Odactra , the fourth new sublingual allergy tablet to be sold in the United States that works the same way  allergy shots  do... but instead is dissolved  under the tongue  at home instead of a shot in the arm in a medical office. Odactra is specifically used in the treatment of dust mite allergy. The other sublingual immunotherapy tablets currently available include: • Ragwitek used to treat ragweed. •  Oralair  and  Grastek  are two o…

5/31/2018 0

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Liquid Biopsy for Head and Neck Cancer

Liquid biopsy is when a simple blood draw is performed in order to detect cancer cells (CTC) or mutated DNA fragments (ctDNA) free floating in the bloodstream that has been shed from the cancer's primary or secondary sites. This test has been heralded as an alternative way to make a diagnosis instead of an invasive surgical biopsy whether by needle or excision. Liquid biopsy has been developed mainly for detecting cancers of the breast, prostate, colon, ovarian, lung, and melanoma. Liqu…

6/05/2016 0

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How Many Basic Tastes Do We Have? Four? Five? Six? More?

As children, we all learn that there are 4 basic tastes: salty, sweet, sour, and bitter. Umami (savory) was discovered in 1909, but recognized more generally since the 1980s. But there have been a number of other additional basic tastes also proposed that many may not have heard of: Calcium Fatty (Oleogustus) Metallic Heartiness or Mouthfulness Should one include taste senses due to the somatosensory system, one can potentially include these basic tastes: Pungency, spiciness, h…

8/03/2015 0

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Breastfeeding Ultrasound

Although breastfeeding is something humans have provided longer than written history, it is only recently through ultrasound that we are only just discovering what actually is going on within the infant mouth. Here is a video showing the complex motion that tongue makes in order to obtain milk from the nipple. The key point is that the tongue moves both horizontally as well as vertically to achieve an effective and painless breastfeeding. Check it out here !

5/18/2015 0

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World's Longest Tongue Can Reach the Eye

Adrianne Lewis is an 18 year old female who just may have the world's longest tongue... at 4 inches! Image from Adrianne's Twitter

5/13/2015 0

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