Common Mouth Sores Explained
Have you ever experienced painful sores or lesions in the mouth? Isn’t it frustrating? You can’t eat or speak right. Worse is, they could be symptoms of a more serious infection. If ever it lasts a week or longer, it is about time that you pay a visit to your dentist about it.
There are a lot of types of mouth sores, yet the most common are canker sores and cold sores.
Canker sores are often described as small pale yellow ulcers inside the mouth with red outer ring. This type of mouth sore is not contagious. Up until now, cause of canker sores is still unknown. Yet, specialist often relate it’s causes to a virus in the body, temporary weakness in the immune system, hormone changes, irritation, stress, and low levels of vitamin B12 or folate. If you are suffering from canker sore you must avoid hot beverages and foods, spicy and salty foods, and even citrus. You can also find immediate remedy for canker sores in your house. You can try rinsing it with water with salt. Also, apply a thin paste of baking soda with water. Other remedy includes mixing 1 part hydrogen peroxide with 1 part water and apply mixture to infected area using a cotton swab.
Another type of mouth sore is cold sores, also known as fever blisters. This type of mouth sore is contagious. It is caused by the herpes simplex virus. Often starts as blisters and then crust over. Although cold sores are curable, the virus that causes this- which is the herpes simplex virus- stays in your blood for the rest of your life. Cold sores can heal on their own within a few days, but you can still consult your doctor to speed up the treatment.
There are other types of mouth sores, such as leukoplakia and candidiasis which are also common mouth sores.
Leukoplakia is a mouth sore that is described as a white or gray patch in the tongue, inside of cheeks, and the floor of the mouth. This often caused by a reaction to an irritant, rough teeth, bad fitting dentures or bridges, and smoking. Although painless, this infection, when severe, can lead to serious oral diseases such as cancer. There is another type of leukoplakia known as “hairy” leukoplakia that is often seen in people that have HIV and AIDS. Treatment of lekoplakia is associated to its cause. A rough tooth per se, it is then taken or removed by your dentists. Yet, if approaching the initial cause of it the problem is ineffective, surgery may be implemented to remove the lesion.
Candidiasis, also called oral thush, is another type of mouth sore. It is caused by a yeast found in our immune system that when triggered, can multiply and causes infections. Certain illnesses, stress, and medications can also trigger the candida in our system. This infection is often found in adults or babies. Symptoms involved presence of creamy white lesions in the mouth, the tongue, inner cheeks, roof of the mouth, gums, tonsils, or even back of the throat. Dry mouth is said to often cause candidiasis. To prevent such infection, we must practice good dental hygiene.
Treating dry mouth is often connected to producing more saliva on the mouth. Also, to further treat dry mouth, most dentists would prescribe oral rinse to help restore moisture in the mouth. If it still doesn’t help, there are other steps that may help improve saliva flow such as; sucking on sugar free candy or chewing gum and drinking lots of water. Yet, the best way still is to maintain good oral hygiene.