Treating Canker Sores

Canker sores are small lesions or ulcers found on the inside of the mouth. They are a common oral ailment that often occur inside the lower lip or on the inner surfaces of the cheeks. While canker sores are not contagious and usually resolve on their own within a couple of weeks, they can be painful and make it difficult to enjoy food and beverages while they are present. For this reason, many people use the following treatments to speed up the healing time and alleviate the discomfort associated with canker sores.

Lasers

Give us a call and we can use our laser to help apply a “laser bandage” to the lesion to make is more comfortable and often times it will heal faster due to the benefits of the laser energy on the tissue.

Home remedies

You might be surprised to find out that you already have many of the products used to treat canker sores in your kitchen or medicine cabinet at home.

In addition to applying ice chips to your canker sores to reduce inflammation and alleviate pain, you can also do daily salt or baking soda mouth rinses to assist in the healing process. Simply mix one teaspoon of either salt or baking soda into 4 oz. warm water until dissolved and rinse each morning and evening.

If you have a bottle of Milk of Magnesia handy, you can also apply a thin layer to your canker sore a couple times a day. This is best applied following an oral rinse rather than before.

Your local drugstore or grocery store likely has a number of topical products that you might try, as well. These will both relieve discomfort and speed healing. Some of the top products for topical application include Anbesol, Orabase, Lidex, and Orajel.

To avoid further irritation, avoid overly hot, spicy, or acidic foods and consider using a non-foaming toothpaste while the sore heals.

Medications and procedures to treat lingering canker sores

Most canker sores resolve quickly using the treatments described above, but some cases may warrant further treatment. If you have an especially large, painful, or long-lasting canker sore, you might consult your doctor, who will be able to prescribe medications that will reduce the pain and inflammation and promote healing.

Your doctor might choose to recommend an oral medication such as Carafate, which is usually used to treat intestinal ulcers but also provides a benefit to oral canker sores due to its effectiveness as a coating agent. In some cases, your doctor might also choose to prescribe oral steroids to treat particularly serious canker sores, though these are often avoided because the possibility of side effects oftentimes outweighs the benefit they provide in treating canker sores. Prescription oral rinses containing the steroid dexamethasone are usually preferred, as the steroid in the mouth rinse is able to target the sores themselves without having a systemic effect on the whole body. In severe cases, your doctor may recommend cautery, which is a procedure involving destruction of the canker sores by either chemical ingredients or medical instruments.

If you are vitamin deficient, your doctor might also recommend nutritional supplements containing folate, zinc, or B vitamins, as deficiencies in these vitamins and minerals can contribute to the formation of canker sores.

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