Notice any pain in your mouth caused by small lesions on your lips, tongue, below your gum line, or the inside of your cheeks? Those tiny red patches that sting sometimes may not be just simple mouth sores. Learn about traumatic ulcer in mouth, what causes them, its types, and how to treat each of them correctly.
Traumatic ulcer in mouth: Are they all due to trauma?
Well, not all mouth sores are caused by trauma. Although their eruption is a little bit puzzling still, there are some factors that can trigger their existence.
- Accidents during a dental procedure, physical activity, biting, or chewing mishap
- Reaction to food (allergy or hypersensitivity)
- Vitamin deficiency
- Hormonal changes or imbalance
- Bacterial or viral (even fungal) invasion
- Stress
These situations trigger the appearance of canker sores or mouth sores. There are also some medical conditions that are diagnosed with the help of these oral sores as its signs or symptom. Diseases concerning the gastrointestinal tract (celiac disease or bowel disorders), herpes, viral infections (hand, foot, and mouth disease), cancer (leukemia or squamous cell carcinoma), HIV/AIDS or other immune system diseases can be diagnosed with mouth sores as one of its symptoms.
Traumatic ulcer in mouth: When should you see a doctor?
Not all canker sores are serious in nature. Some heal on their own without needing any antibiotics or medication. However, a patient with traumatic ulcer in mouth should seek medical advice if:
- The mouth sores are getting bigger
- New ulcers are developing after others have healed
- Their appearance last for more than 3 weeks
- Their eruption becomes visible and reaches the outer part of the lips
- Their existence affect your nutrition
- They are joined by high fever and gastrointestinal upset
How to diagnose?
Because there are so many types of mouth sores and so many culprits to consider, it is difficult for a doctor to just look at a mouth sore and say what it was. Some specialists can have one look at an ulcer and know what exactly caused it, but just to make sure that they give you the correct diagnosis and the correct treatment for it, they can perform blood work and biopsy to confirm.
Traumatic ulcer in mouth: Treatment and management
Ways to address your mouth ulcers depend of course on the cause. Correct diagnosis controls the level and extent of treatment a patient needs. For instance, if the sores you have are from orthodontic procedures like braces and dental aligners, basic antiseptic mouth rinse and salty mouthwash can do the trick. Allergies can be addressed by antihistamines and steroids, while mouth sores caused by viral, bacterial, or fungal infections may be treated with appropriate antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal preparations, respectively. Cancer should be seriously confirmed and the stage and spread of the disease will control the extent of treatment a patient would take.
