Mouth Ulcers

 Mouth ulcers are painful sore lesions in the inner part of cheeks or oral cavity. Mouth ulcers are very commonly seen from child to old aged. Mouth ulcers are also called as stomatitis or apthous ulcers. Most people have recurrent mouth ulcers.

Causes of Mouth Ulcers

• Mental Stress and anxiety.
• Injury to oral cavity like biting of tongue or inner cheeks while eating food, injury while brushing the teeth, etc
• Improper fixture of dentures can cause irritation of the oral mucosa leading to apthous ulcers.
• Ulcers during menstrual cycle is also commonly seen may be due to hormonal changes.
• Vitamin deficiency like vitamin B12 deficiency, folic acid and iron deficiency.
• Smoking causes changes in oral cavity. The first sign is mouth ulcers due to inflammation of the oral mucosa caused by smoking.
• Infections - Sometimes mouth ulcers are caused by underlying infection from virus like Herpes virus or bacterial infection from teeth and gums may cause ulcers.
• Certain food like peanuts, chocolates, eggs, almond, cheese may cause recurrent mouth ulcers.
• Certain drugs like NSAIDS (Non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) like naproxen, diclofenac, ibuprofen.
• Person with immunocompromised diseases or with low immunity like in HIV, cancer patients, herpes virus, etc mouth ulcers are very commonly seen.

 Symptoms of mouth ulcers -

• The painful round or oval lesion in the inner cheeks or inner lips or on the gums or under the tongue.
• They are white , yellow or red in color with inflamed edges.
• Mouth ulcers are uncomfortable while eating or drinking. Hot and spicy food aggravates the ulcers and becomes more painful.
• Usually mouth ulcers heal themselves in a week without any treatment and do not leave any scars. If they get worse or present even after 3 weeks then it is necessary to consult the physician.

 Prevention and Treatment of mouth ulcers

• Thorough oral hygiene helps to relieve and prevent the symptoms.
• Proper and gentle brushing of teeth to prevent future mouth ulcers.
• Avoid hot, spicy, citrus or any food that makes ulcer more worse.
• Eat bland and nutritious diet till the ulcers heals completely.
• Soothing mouth gels are available which can be applied locally on the ulcers to reduce the ulcer pain.
• Vitamin B12 and folic acid intake may reduce the recurrent ulcers.
• Avoid chewing tobacco and smoking.
• Homeopathy for mouth ulcers - The remedy is prescribed based on the symptoms and the way ulcer looks. The commonly indicated homeopathic remedy will be Merc Sol and Borax. Depending on the cause and type of ulcers, these medicines are prescribed which fasten the healing of mouth ulcers. Take the medicine till the symptoms present and stop it immediately as they disappear.

 Complications of mouth ulcers

• Infection - If the ulcer is not healed within the time period then the open sore may get infected and may also spread the infection to other parts. For ex - If there is a ulcer in the inner part of lips and they are not healed for 3 weeks, the open sore may get infected if the person has infection of gums or tooth. Thus this infection will spread to other part of mouth.
• Oral Cancer - Mouth Ulcer is the first sign in case of squamous cell cancer seen commonly in smokers.