What is Sore of the mouth ? what are its symptoms and causes ?

An oral sore is a benign painful ulceration, most often located inside the cheeks, which heals spontaneously. Canker occur from childhood and their frequency decreases after 50 years. They are favored by certain foods, fatigue…

What is a sore of the mouth?
The sore: a painful ulceration
An oral sore is a painful ulceration, located in the mouth.

The occurrence of the sore is preceded by a sensation of cooking or burning. A painful red spot appears and very quickly an ulceration forms. The ulceration measures 2 to 10 mm, it is rounded or oval in shape. It has a yellowish or greyish background with a clear and red edge.

The sore does not bleed, but it is painful especially during meals or when brushing teeth.

Most often the sore is unique but there may be several (up to 6) during a thrust.

In the mouth, canker can be present on all mucous and mobile areas of the mouth:

• On the edges, the underside or the tip of the tongue,
• Inside the lips and cheeks,
• On the floor of the mouth (under the tongue).

The gums attached to the bone, the hard palate and the dry side of the lips are spared by the canker.

The scarring is spontaneous: the sore loses its regularity, its limits become imprecise and the healing takes place in 10 to 15 days without scarring.

Canker are common and are not contagious

Canker occur outside of an infection context and are therefore not contagious. They do not pass from person to person when kissing, sharing glass or cutlery.

Canker are very common ailments. Most people will have at least one sore during their lifetime. They occur already in childhood and their frequency decreases after 50 years. People prone to canker may have several flares per year (up to 6), sometimes from childhood.

Special forms of oral canker
There are rarer forms:

• The canker recurrent (more than 6 populousness a year), returning very frequently and responsible for an annoyance to everyday life.
• The miliary aphtose consists of a large number of canker (50 to 100) of very small size (less than one millimetre).
• Giant cankers of 1 to 2 cm can take a month to heal and scarring can leave sequelae.

Factors that promote canker

If the cause of the canker is unknown, some factors appear to play a role in their appearance:

• Stress
• fatigue;
• Dental problems: teeth or sharp dental materials;
• Trauma associated with wearing a dental device
• Some foods: Nuts, peanuts, Gruyere, strawberries, tomatoes, etc.;
• Some medications: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, blockers, bisphosphonates…;
• The period of the rules in some women.