Mouth ulcers — also known as canker sores — are normally small, painful lesions that develop in your mouth or at the base of your gums. They can make eating, drinking, and talking uncomfortable.
Women, adolescents, and people with a family history of mouth ulcers are at higher risk for developing mouth ulcers.
Mouth ulcers aren’t contagious and usually go away within one to two weeks. However, if you get a canker sore that is large or extremely painful, or if it lasts for a long time without healing, you should seek the advice of a doctor.
There is no definite cause behind mouth ulcers. However, certain factors and triggers have been identified. These include:
- minor mouth injury from dental work, hard brushing, sports injury, or accidental bite
- toothpastes and mouth rinses that contain sodium lauryl sulfate
- food sensitivities to acidic foods like strawberries, citrus, and pineapples, and other trigger foods like chocolate and coffee
- lack of essential vitamins, especially B-12, zinc, folate, and iron
- allergic response to mouth bacteria
- dental braces
- hormonal changes during menstruation
- emotional stress or lack of sleep
- bacterial, viral, or fungal infections
Mouth ulcers also can be a sign of conditions that are more serious and require medical treatment, such as:
- celiac disease (a condition in which the body is unable to tolerate gluten)
- inflammatory bowel disease
- diabetes mellitus
- Behcet’s disease (a condition that causes inflammation throughout the body)
- a malfunctioning immune system that causes your body to attack the healthy mouth cells instead of viruses and bacteria
- HIV/AIDs
