How to Treat Oral Ulcers

Oral ulcers remain one of the most annoying conditions regularly suffered by our dental patients. No matter how well you brush and maintain your oral health, everyone develops mouth ulcers at some point, whether they are tiny but painful canker sores or a more serious condition.

So how should you treat oral ulcers? There are many simple things you can do to care for mouth ulcers, so you feel better faster. Follow these seven tips on how to treat oral ulcers and your mouth will be back to normal much faster.

1. Avoid foods and drinks that irritate oral ulcers. Certain foods can irritate ulcers and make them worse. Until your mouth ulcer has healed, avoid hard, crunchy, scratchy, abrasive, hot, very cold, spicy, and acidic foods.
2. Keep your mouth clean. Keep up with your oral hygiene, even if your mouth is more tender than usual. A great way to keep the ulcer clean is to rinse your mouth out regularly with warm, slightly salted water.
3. Drink through a straw. Both hot and cold drinks can make an oral ulcer feel worse. Using a straw minimizes irritation while ensuring you stay hydrated– a key part of recovery.
4. Brush your teeth gently with a soft manual toothbrush. Even though your mouth needs to be kept clean, don’t over-brush your teeth, especially in the area surrounding the ulcer. Take your time, carefully brushing the area with light, gentle strokes.
5. Treat the ulcer over-the-counter with antimicrobial mouthwash, medicated lozenges, and antiseptic gels. Most mouth ulcers don’t require prescription medication to heal completely. Time and care is generally enough. Still, if your ulcer is bothering you or causing pain, over-the-counter oral ulcer treatments can generally minimize the pain and help you heal faster.
6. Visit your dentist. If your ulcer isn’t going away on its own or seems to be getting worse, you may be suffering from a more serious condition. Your dentist can see what’s wrong and provide you with the proper treatment to get rid of the ulcer for good. Come in to see your dentist right away if an ulcer persists for more than three weeks, your ulcers seem to be multiplying or recurrent, or the ulcer turns red and especially painful.
7. Laser the ulcer. If an oral ulcer is too painful to wait for relief over the 7-10 days it typically takes for an ulcer to heal on its own, you can get laser treatments from a qualified dentist to heal them entirely within 24 hours. Laser treatments for canker sores are completely painless and take only about 15 minutes from start to finish. Your pain will go away immediately, and you will heal within about a day. For many patients, the total and immediate relief is well worth a trip to the dentist.

An ulcer in your mouth may be annoying, but it usually is nothing to be too concerned about. Still, for many people, oral ulcers can seem scary, and canker sores can be frustratingly painful. That’s why at Kantor Dental Group our staff is always available to talk to you about how to treat oral ulcers or any other oral condition. If your ulcer is too painful, we can even laser the ulcer