Most people have suffered from painful sores in their mouth. These sores, which can be located on the gums, under the tongue and even inside the lips or cheeks are called canker sores. Although these sores usually go away even without treatment, it is still recommended that you have them checked by your City of London dentist.

Canker sores usually appear as oval or round with red borders. Before these sores appear, you might feel a burning or tingling sensation in the said area as well as fever, swollen lymph nodes and listlessness.

To date, there are basically three kinds of aphthous ulcers or canker sores:

• Minor – the most common type characterized by an oval-shaped lesion; typically lasts a couple of weeks
• Major – large, irregular-shaped lesions; lasts for several months and could result to scarring when healed
• Herpetiform – appear as clusters of tiny lesions, which usually merge forming one large ulcer

Possible causes for canker sores include the following:

• Weakened immune system
• Oral injury or trauma
• Allergy
• Nutrient deficiency
• Hormonal changes
• Stress

Whatever the reason is, your dentist will be able to help you manage these canker sores allowing you to recover from them safely and quickly. Treatment options available for these aphthous ulcers include:

• Oral rinses or mouthwashes
• Topical pastes
• Nutritional supplements
• Oral medications

Naturally, your City of London dentist will have to correctly diagnose canker sores before any treatment plan is recommended. It is vital that the cause is determined in order to reduce the frequency of recurrence of these sores in the future.

London dental patients have been seen by the local London dentistry for problems dealing with ulcers or more commonly, canker sores. These ulcers are simply open sores in the mouth and can be caused by a variety of reasons. They appear as a white sore in the mouth. You can not pass an ulcer on to someone else as they are not contagious.
Causes of mouth ulcers include injuries sustained by bighting the cheek of tongue, an allergic reaction to something, an immune system response to some outside agent to include chemicals, large amounts of stress, a B12, iron, or folic acid deficiency in the diet, using mouthwash or toothpaste with SLS in it, viral infections related to herpes simplex or the foot and mouth disease, Han, problems with the intestines, and cancer of the mouth.
The lining of the mouth is opened due to one of the problems listed above and bacteria gets inside. The toxins from the bacteria are released and the cells around the ulcer are killed. This is the reason some ulcers get larger and hurt much more. If you find you have an ulcer, you need to see your doctor, if it does not go away within a week or two or if it starts hurting more. Ulcers that do not go away within a month could be mouth cancer in rare instances.
Simple mouth ulcers can be treated with a warm salt water gargle, using a teething gel for the pain, carmellose gelatin paste over the ulcer as a protective covering, and Paracetamol. Treatment should need no more than a week to heal the ulcer. If it does not, a trip to the dentist is necessary.