A closer look into the mouth by Dr Martin Schiele

Even the ancient Greeks were plagued by mouth ulcers. It was Hippocrates, who in the 4th century BC coined the medical term for them...Aphthous stomatitis.

Mouth ulcers seems to affect women more than men, they appear as shallow or crater like ulcerated areas in small clusters inside the mouth and range in size from as tiny as a pin head to as large as a 5p coin. They emerge rather suddenly.

Symptoms

• Small white or yellowish sores or crater like ulcers surrounded by a red area on the tongue, gums or soft palette, or inside the lips or cheeks.
• Burning, itchiness, or a tingling feeling before a sore appears.
• Raw pain when eating, drinking and talking, strongest during the first few days.

Causes
The mouth is often the first organ to show signs of nutrient deficiency owing to the rapid turn over of the cells in its lining. As a result stress may bring on mouth ulcers because of the body's immune system to over act to bacteria normally present in the mouth.

Mouth ulcers can also be precipitated by a number of actions, such as irritating the mouth cavity with a rough filling or a jagged or chipped tooth or wearing ill-fitting dentures. Maybe you have accidentally or unconsciously gnawed the inside of your cheek, used a toothbrush with very hard bristles or brushed too vigorously.

Occasionally, even eating acidic, spicy or salty foods - tomatoes, citrus fruits, hot peppers, cinnamon, nuts or potato crisps - can be the initiating factor.

Some practitioners believe that recurring mouth ulcers are an allergic reaction to food preservatives - Benzoic acid, E210; Methyl paraben, E218; or Sorbic acid, E200, to name a few - or to something in the food. Gluten, the protein found in wheat and some other grain, has been singled out also as a likely offender.

What to do about it.
Visit your dentist if a tooth problem is irritating your mouth. Keep your mouth clean and healthy, use a soft - bristled brush. Do not eat spicy food, avoid coffee and other irritants.


For further free information on the prevention and treatment of mouth ulcers read more in the consultation room...