**4.2 Tongue**

In the oral cavity the more common defects requiring reconstruction are those from glossectomies. The tongue is a highly functional organ, with a complex muscle mobility that functions as a coordinate unit to articulate words, swallow, and push the bolus back, so the primary goal of reconstruction is to preserve the ability to move it intelligibly and not tethered with adequate soft tissue coverage, avoiding bulky flaps. The three-dimensional oncological resection needs adequate margins up to 1 cm, so the size of the defect may be variable, a quarter, half, near total, or total and can be simultaneously related or not with other structures like the floor of the mouth, cheek, skin, or bone. Based on that, reconstruction may be just a primary closure, a local or a pediculate flap, or a simple or composite free flap.
