What is Aphtha?
Aphtha is the painful rash, white or grey in color, that usually appears inside the mouth, on the inner cheeks, tongue or gum tissue. Aphtha is not contagious, unlike herpes, but may appear in various spots inside mouth.
While there are a number of research made to determine the causes of aphtha, and while the definitive reason is not entirely known, these may trigger aphtha formation.
How Aphtha is formed?
- Foods too hot or too spicy are one of the main reasons that speed aphtha formation. These foods cause aphtha by irritating the mucosa tissue inside mouth.
- Stress, just like many other disorders, is one of the main causes of aphtha formation. Stressful work environments, emotional disorders such as depression may contribute to aphtha.
- While not always apparent, vitamin deficiency is one of the causes that contribute to aphtha occurrence. Especially vitamin B12 and iron deficiency is known to increase oral tissue healing time.
- Dermatological disorders may contribute to aphtha formation.
- Toothpaste used in dental and oral care may be the greatest contributing factor. Certain chemicals in toothpaste that are used to create bubbles to increase the mechanical cleaning may damage the cellular membrane of oral tissue and may be causing aphtha.
- Another cause of aphtha is the deformation in jaw structure and in gum tissue. In cases where the teeth are misaligned and jaw structure is deformed, the oral and dental hygiene may not be ideally achieved due to improper brushing techniques, which may lead to oral tissue degradation and aphtha formation.
Everyday Remedies for Aphtha Treatment
If not treated by professionals, tissue suffering from aphtha will usually recover in around 10 days. However, if the patient is suffering due to excessive pain, these following methods can be used to alleviate pain.
- The patient must refrain from consuming spicy or hot food that may have caused the aphtha in the first place. Not consuming these will allow the tissue to repair itself.
- You may wash your mouth with a mixture of water and sodium bicarbonate.
- If the pain became unbearable, oral mouthwashes and solutions sold in pharmacies will help with the pain.
- You may gently press a piece of cotton, soaked with alcohol & water to the aphtha to relieve pain.
Oral Laser Treatment Method
It is a scientifically known fact that laser treatment for oral aphtha is one of the most efficient and quick treatment solutions. Laser treatment is lightly applied to the area without a need for local anesthesia. One of the aims of this treatment is also to prevent aphtha formation after the operation. Shortly after the laser treatment, the pain rapidly decreases and the lesion begins to heal. A comparison with other treatments methods shows that laser treatment is the best solution for quick recovery of tissue for aphtha treatment; while treatment time following corticosteroid method is between 5-7 days, the recovery period following aphtha treatment is between 3-4 days.