Has it ever happened to you that you took a bite of your favorite spicy food, and it started stinging badly? There’s hardly an adult who didn’t develop a canker sore in their childhood. It might be due to a mouth ulcer called canker sore. Children are especially vulnerable to their development due to consuming various acidic foods.
Are Canker Sores Contagious?
People often mix up canker sores with cold sores. The truth is that cold sores appear outside of the mouth around the lips or nose. Meanwhile, canker sores appear on the soft tissues inside the mouth, such as the roof of the mouth, behind the lips, and inside the cheeks. Cold sores can be contagious, but canker sores never transfer from one person to another.
Reasons Behind Canker Sores in Children
These mouth ulcers are very common among children from 10-19 years. They are recurring in nature, but they are not contagious. Medical researchers cannot rule out the accurate reason. Some culprits to blame can be:
- Malnutrition.
- Weak immunity.
- Food allergies like nuts, citrus fruits, dairy products, etc.
- Oral injuries.
- Bacteria or viruses.
- Particular medications.
- Stress.
If your child’s canker sores frequently reoccur and stay for long, they can be associated with HIV infection or bowel disease.
How Do You Treat a Canker Sore in a Child?
Your child can develop canker sores frequently due to viral or bacterial infections and low immunity. Your pediatrician can suggest suitable mouthwash, medication, or topical ointments to stop their reoccurrence.
If your child is healthy, a canker sore will vanish after a week or two. However, the recovery duration can be troublesome. You can reduce your child’s discomfort with the help of natural soothing agents like milk and honey. Furthermore, they can consume soft foods and keep their mouth hydrated.
Prevention for Canker Sores
There are certainly no tips and tricks to keep canker sores at bay. However, your child can:
- Eat a healthy diet.
- Let go of your habit of biting soft tissues like the inner walls of your cheeks and lips.
- Sleep well.
- Remain stress-free.
Ensure that minor issues like canker sores are off your list of worries. Wait for a week or two for them to disappear before seeking professional help.
Medical Intervention
Canker sores disappear with time. However, it can sometimes require medical help where you need to consult a general physician or a pediatric dentist, like Dr. Mengxia Chen at Smile4Ever Family Dentistry, for clinical treatment for canker sores. Signs that your child needs medical care are:
- Canker sore that keeps growing in size.
- If they last longer than 14 days.
- High fever.
Concluding Thoughts
However, canker sores or mouth ulcers are usually nothing to care about. But if you can’t witness your child going through discomfort. Visit our pediatric dentist at Smile4Ever Family Dentistry for quick treatment and care. Call us at (281) 213-5668 to schedule a visit.