How do we get rid of recurrent mouth ulcers?

Mouth ulcers are a kind of oral health issue which damages the mucosal membrane of the mouth. It appears as red, white or grey in colour and it looks like swollen. Usually, it appears in the lips and at end of gum line. In certain cases, it appears in the cheeks as well as tongue.

This is also termed as canker sores. Few people thinks that it is cold sores but mouth ulcers are different from cold sores. Cold sores are caused by virus and it is generally develops on the outer surface of the lips.

Types of Mouth ulcer (or) Canker Sores

Mouth ulcer is classified as follows:

·        Minor canker sore

·        Major canker sore

·        Herpetiform

Minor canker sore – It is most common and heal within 10 to 14 days. The minor ulcers are commonly appears in lips, tongue and gum lines.

Major canker sore – This type of mouth ulcers injures the membranes more deeper and are larger in size when compared to the minor ulcers. It requires around 6 weeks to heal.

Herpetiform – Similar to minor canker sore, herpetiform also small in size but it appears as a cluster and causes more pain. It will take 2 weeks to heal.

What are the factors causing canker sore?

Mouth ulcers are not contagious. It occurs mainly due to various reasons that cause an abrasive or injure various areas inside our mouth. Some of them are listed as follows:

·        Consuming food items which are highly acidic and citrus

·        Injury caused by improper dental works

·        Poor fitting of dental braces

·        Oral injuries

·        Inflammatory bowel diseases

·        Oral bacteria

·        Abrasive brushing

·        Stress, Anxiety and depression

Besides these, using toothpaste and mouth washes containing large amount of chemical compounds also induce canker sore.

Women are highly affected by this issue because the hormonal changes occurring in the period of menstrauation also causes mouth ulcers. Similarly, younger adults are also have higher chances of affected by mouth ulcer.

Treatment to cure canker sore

The trauma caused by mouth ulcer will heal itself within few weeks. It causes intense pain and discomforts while eating, drinking and even speaking.

In such cases, you can try few homemade remedies with the things available in your home. It will help you to minimise the pain and speed up the healing process.

·        Rinse and swish your mouth with the mixture of salt and water.

·        Gargling with baking soda and saltwater

·        Apply ice cube on the trauma

·        Apply baking soda paste on the canker sores

·        Apply milk of magnesia on the mouth ulcers

·        Get over-the-counter pain relievers (For example, Anbesol) available in Pharmacies.

Prevention measures

There are certain food items and dental health products that are associated with canker sores. By limiting the consumption, it is easy to prevent this dental health complication.

·        Reduce the level of acidic fruits like pineapple, orange, lemon and other spicy food items in your diet menu.

·        Consume food items that are rich in Vitamins A,C and E.

·        Avoid mouth washes containing Sodium Lauryl Sulphate

·        Drink more water to avoid Xerostomia. It is also a reason behind mouth ulcers.

·        Use soft bristle toothbrushes

·        Maintain proper dental hygiene routine to exhaust oral bacteria.

Conclusion

In cases, if you observe that the mouth ulcers do not heal within 3 weeks, consider your dentist. As certain health complications like blood disorders, gastrointestinal diseases use canker sores as symptoms, it is better to consult a dental health specialist if the canker sores last longer than 3 weeks. It will help you to prevent and overcome other health complications in the earlier stage.

Factors that cause gum bleeding

Sometimes you may notice the gum is bleeding while brushing. It is not to worry if the gum bleeds in a limited manner. But the continuous leak of blood from gums and in the spaces of teeth requires right dental care and medical check up because such kind of bleeding gums are a symptom of gum diseases.

In this post, our dental team has listed some factors that make your gums to bleed frequently.

1.     Gingivitis

Gingivitis is the initial stage of gum disease and gum bleeding is the symptom of Gingivitis. If you do not properly remove plaque in your mouth, it will stay on the gum. Later the plaque gets amalgamated into tartar which infects the gum followed by gums becoming tender and starts bleeding.

Many people ignore gingivitis as it does not cause any pain in the mouth. If you ignore gingivitis today, it will bring serious periodontal diseases further.

This is cured by efficient dental treatment and maintaining proper oral hygiene.

2.     Blood thinning medications

Few medicines prescribed by doctors will lighten the blood. When our blood gets lightened, the clotting ability of our blood becomes lessen. It makes our gums to constantly bleeding. In such cases, it is better to consult your dental health specialist.

3.     Vitamin Deficiencies

People who are deficient in Vitamin C and Vitamin K can be easily affected by bleeding gums. Hence it is better to analyze the vitamin levels present in your body. Consuming more fruits and vegetables which are rich in nutrients and help you to get the vitamins.

·        Vitamin C rich food items include lemon juice, citrus fruits, potatoes, tomato, Papaya, Strawberries, Guava, Pineapple, Cauliflower, Mango

·        Vitamin K rich food items include spinach, cabbage, cucumbers, mustard greens, dried herbs, Brussels sprouts

4.     Imbalanced diet

Maintaining an imbalanced diet with food items which are not rich in nutrients and vitamins will cause several health issues including gum bleeding. If you really take care of your oral health and overall health, add food stuff having high vitamins and minerals that are required for the normal functioning of your body.

5.     Pregnancy Gingivitis

The gums start to bleed and become swollen for some women when they are pregnant. This is called as pregnancy gingivitis. Generally, the hormonal changes that take place in the body of women in their menstruation and pregnancy period cause gum diseases.

By maintaining proper dental hygiene along with a regular dental check up help women to inhibit gum diseases and other drastic gum treatments.

6.     Poor Oral hygiene habits

If you do not maintain regular oral hygiene routine habits, then the plaque and food debris cannot be properly removed from your mouth. This will lead to gum diseases like gingivitis and periodontics.

To stay far away from such gum diseases, you need to maintain good oral hygiene routine like brushing twice a day, floss your mouth daily.

Remember that brushing the teeth too hard and flossing frequently also cause your gum to bleed.

7.     Other factors

There are few other factors which cause gum bleeding that are listed below:

·        Fixing the dentures very tightly

·        Consuming food items that do not have sufficient nutrients.

·        Stress is also related indirectly to cause periodontal diseases.

·        Genetics

Gum bleeding is not only a symptom of gingivitis and periodontal diseases. It is also a symptom of blood related diseases because bleeding gums are associated with many diseases like Leukemia, diabetes, etc. Hence it is wise to consult a dentist to find the root cause of this issue in order to prevent serious diseases.