Are you suffering from stomatitis? Here is what you should do!

Stomatitis is a term used to indicate a sore and inflamed mouth. This condition can disrupt your ability to eat, sleep, and talk. Stomatitis can happen anywhere in your mouth, including on your tongue, lips, palate, and the inside of your check.

The types of stomatitis

There are many types of stomatitis, including:

Canker sores. Also known as aphthous ulcer, a canker sore is a single yellow or pale ulcer that has a red outer ring. It usually forms on the tongue, cheeks, or the inside of your lip.

Cold sores. Known as fever blisters, the cold sores are lesions filled with fluid that occur around the mouth. In rare cases, they form on the gum tissue or the roof of your mouth.

Mouth irritation caused from biting your tongue, cheek, or lip, wearing braces, chewing tobacco, burning your mouth with hot drinks or foods,  suffering from gum disease, autoimmune disease, taking certain medication, or receiving radiation treatment (for cancer).

Signs and symptoms of stomatitis

A dentist or physician can easily diagnose stomatitis. But you can recognize it because it is painful and incommode in your mouth. It is a condition that lasts for 5 to 10 days and tends to come back. Canker sores are not associated with fever, but cold sores can generate flu-like symptoms.

Preventing and treating stomatitis

Mouth sores usually don’t last very long. Even without treatment, you will be free of them in two weeks. If the source of the problem is identified by your dentist or doctor, they will be able to give you a treatment for it. If it is impossible to determine the cause, the treatment will focus on managing the symptoms you have.

Here are some strategies that can help you ease the inflammation and pain resulted from the mouth sores.

• Avoid consuming hot foods and beverages, as well as spicy, salty, and citrus-based foods.

• You can use pain relievers such as Ibuprofen or Tylenol

• Rinse your mouth with cool water; eat ice pops if you have a feeling of burning in your mouth.

For canker sores you can relieve the discomfort by:

• Drinking more water

• Practice a proper dental care

• Rinse with salt water to remove the excess bacteria and prevent infection

• Apply lidocaine or xylocaine, two topical anesthetics.

• Use topical corticosteroids such as triamcinolone dental paste. This will protect the sores on the gums and lips.

• Lidex gel

• Aphthasol

• Peridex mouthwash

Suffering from canker sores often can be a sign of Vitamin B12 deficiency. Talk to you doctor about taking a blood test, to see if you have any vitamin deficiencies. You can also take anti-inflammatory drugs, like corticosteroids, as they will reduce the pain and swelling considerably. Some people are unable to take certain types of drugs. Talk to your dentist or doctor about your health conditions at the beginning of your consultation (before you start taking any medication).

For more information about stomatitis, you can ask your dentist or physician.

Covington Smiles offers a wide range of services such as dental implants, teeth whitening, emergency dentistry, pediatric dentistry, cosmetic dentistry and more. Contact our trusted dental clinic to make an appointment with Dr. Daniel Lee and his team.

Send us a text or give us a call 253-630-2483

If you have questions about what insurance we accept or financing, check out our dental insurance page.

If you are in need of a dental implant or thinking about getting dentures, check out our partners Dental Implant Solutions NW and Denture Club of America.