Mouth alcers

[a1butch]

Hi all. I cannot pinpoint the exact timing but over the past few years i've started developing frequent mouth ulcers. At any point in time I could just have one or as many as 3/4 jotted around my mouth and tongue.They can be quite frequent, every month at worst - so i could have a week's grace before the next one arrives.
I have suffered from mouth ulcers in the past but i cannot remember them in this frequency before.
Life's stresses haven't changed dramatically over the past few years and there's no family history of mouth ulcers outside of perhaps the norm.
I'm starting to look at diet or lifestyle but any pointers from ulcer sufferers here will be helpful.

[mcelliott]

I take vit b12 which helps me, also on the rare occasion that I do get one I gargle with aspirin or Gengigel mouth wash. Any acidic foods or drink will trigger mine, also some meds have that as a side effect.

[Cblair246]

Pineapple can trigger mouth ulcers for me so something to avoid as it might be compounding the issue.

[GordonL]

Retired dentist here.
First thing to do is go to your doc and get your blood checked for serum folate and B12 levels. You can have the ulcers without being clinically anaemic, so simple blood counts like your GP will suggest aren’t sensitive enough.

Avoid toothpastes with high levels of Sodium Laurel Sulphate (SLS) in them, Colgate used to be bad for this, Oral B was better, but this might have changed. SLS is a foaming agent, doesn’t do anything useful really.

They are very stress related, so look to minimise this if you can manage it.

Rinsing with Difflam can help a bit, it’s a mild anaesthetic so will give some pain relief, as well as preventing the ulcers from getting secondary infections.

Hope this helps.

[firemunki]

mcelliott said:

I take vit b12 which helps me

Helped me too, I've suffered for years, the dentist told my mum I'd grow out of having so many however he didn't say when I'd grow enough! I'd tried lots of things, corsadil mouthwash, TCP dabbed on the ulcer (get used to the taste!). But since I've been taking a b12 daily tablet I've get so many less, still get the odd one from smack my mouth drinking from a cycle bottle or occasional sharp food but it's no more than a normal person.

Honestly can say it changed my life for the better.

[MitchT]

Kiwi fruit and gel toothpaste give me terrible mouth ulcers. Things with citric acid in give me varying degrees of ulcer depending just how much citric acid there is. For example, oranges give me a slightly burning and tingling sensation inside my mouth, but not so badly that I can't eat them. Also, I can eat a maximum of about two strawberries before my mouth starts to feel quite uncomfortable.

[Stigproducts]

I think stress can be a factor. I get hem too occasionally and they can be painful. My dentist supplied a quite expensive bottle of special mouthwash that was effective. I also swear by this which seems to be only available in Greece, although I did manage to buy some in London once much to the surprise of the pharmacist who had no idea what it was, but somehow found it in a drawer when I asked.

https://www.mylanotc.co.za/our-brands/pyralvex

Get it on ebay, it isn't too expensive. Hurts like a bh when you apply it but you soon get used to it and it takes away the pain for a while.

[TheHoof]

GordonL said:

Avoid toothpastes with high levels of Sodium Laurel Sulphate (SLS) in them, Colgate used to be bad for this, Oral B was better, but this might have changed. SLS is a foaming agent, doesn’t do anything useful really.

Certainly agree with this; I used to get them quite frequently and since swapping toothpaste, I get them much less frequently.

Most of the Sensodyne range is free of SLS