How is it diagnosed?

Very often, a health-care professional can diagnose OHL simply by looking at the white patch. If there is confusion as to whether the white patch is OHL or thrush (candidiasis), a simple scrape test can be performed. Using a tongue depressor or a toothbrush, the patch can be lightly scraped. If it appears to come off with scraping, the white patch is probably thrush and not OHL.

To be sure that the white patch is OHL, a health-care provider can send a sample of the patch to a lab for analysis. The lab will look for the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to confirm a diagnosis of OHL.

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