I won't say this is for every single one of you, but chances are the coated tongue is bacterial overgrowth that isn't removed naturally by saliva (we know why). This summer my tongue was coated like that, and my ENT's PA, who sees me first at my check-ups, and my ENT oncologist, said, bacteria, get rid of it by using baking soda, tongue scraper. My husband, who is a GP dentist, says he sees a lot of it in older people whose salivary function is not so great. He always says, and it makes me feel better, "I've seen worse in people who have not had radiation."

Anyway, what I do is mix up some baking soda and water, get a gauze square wet with it, and use that on my tongue. I can get rid of it everytime. Just have to repeat the process if not daily every other day, I guess. I like using the gauze because I feel like it is gentler than the tongue scraper, and I have more control. What I don't like is, as you well know, baking soda dries the mucosa.

For what it's worth, and I think someone else mentioned the baking soda.

Best,
Anne