In simple words: The small bumps on your tongue that contain taste buds have shrunk or disappeared, which can sometimes affect your sense of taste.

This condition signifies a decrease in the size and/or number of papillae on the surface of the tongue.

Example 1: A patient presents with a smooth, red tongue and complains of altered taste sensation. Upon examination, the physician notes a loss of papillae and diagnoses the condition as atrophic glossitis, using the ICD-10-CM code K14.4., A patient with a known nutritional deficiency exhibits a smooth, shiny tongue. The physician diagnoses the patient with atrophy of the tongue papillae secondary to the nutritional deficiency and uses the ICD-10-CM code K14.4 along with the appropriate code for the deficiency., During a routine dental check-up, the dentist observes a loss of papillae on the patient's tongue. The patient is asymptomatic but the dentist documents the finding and uses code K14.4 as a secondary diagnosis.

Detailed clinical documentation should include the appearance of the tongue, patient symptoms (like altered taste or pain), and any associated conditions or underlying causes.

** Additional codes may be necessary to fully capture the underlying cause of the tongue papillae atrophy, such as nutritional deficiencies or systemic diseases.