7 yr old DD constantly gets canker sores
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Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks for all of the responses. She is a picky eater and doesn't eat oranges, tomatoes, or other acidic foods (at least none that I can think of). She does take a multivitamin but I recently noticed it doesn't contain iron. She uses a spacer with the inhaler, and brushes her teeth afterwards but not immediately. We use Sensodyne toothpaste. I don't see SLS on the ingredient list but definitely open to switching to Tom's to see if that helps. Anyway, based on the responses here, it does seem like this is out of the range of normal and probably worth making an appt with her ped. |
Anonymous
| My child and I both had these. We ended up having celiac. All gone without gluten. |
Anonymous
Came here to say that! |
Anonymous
| I used to get so many canker sores. It started when I was about her age and I got a lot until I hit about 30 when it started to decrease. Now at 38 I hardly get them anymore and when I do it’s always the result of accidentally biting my mouth while eating - not spontaneous. I’ve always heard that canker sores are connected to age. It might be worth asking her ped or dentist though and switching to a “sensitive” toothpaste. |
Anonymous
| Definitely make an appointment with your dentist. |
Anonymous
+1 but in the meantime, the TheraBreath brand of mouthwash is great for helping canker sores |
Anonymous
| I came here hoping to find an answer. My daughter has been plagued with them all of her life. Toothpaste and diet changes didn't help. We had her tested for celiac and allergies, nothing. The only other possibility to look into is behcet syndrome which doesn't help much because there's no cure. |
Anonymous
Third - not sure of any published studies, but anecdotally have read many times of canker sores being associated w (undiagnosed/untreated) celiac and/or going away on a gluten-free diet. Might be worth testing for celiac or trying a GF diet if she's been tested and was negative. (IANAD.) |
Anonymous
| I had them throughout childhood. As a young adult I got them frequently as well. Eventually I stopped drinking soda and I stopped having them. |
Anonymous
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The toothpaste ingredient she may be sensitive to is sodium laurel sulfate. I have suffered with canker sores my entire life, and I did find that Tom's or similar toothpaste without sodium laurel sulfate would reduce the frequency (did not stop them completely).
I grew up in a city with large research hospitals and a nurse for a mother so I saw many specialists. It has gotten better as I've gotten older (I'm 51 now). The specialists I saw said it is suspected to be some sort of auto-immune response. It may or may not be worth seeing if anyone is doing research on canker sores at Children's or NIH. I don't think there are new treatments, but, I also haven't made any serious attempts in over 20 years. I wouldn't bother with random dentists, oral surgeons, or pediatricians. They know nothing in my long experience. The last time I saw an oral surgeon who does research on this, he put me on high doses of steroids—he had some success with steriod treatments knocking out the canker sores and never coming back once you were weaned off the steroids. I had complete relief from the canker sores while I was on steroids, but mine came back as soon as I was weaned off the treatment. This was in my 20s, I doubt they'd do this for a child. I do not think it is the steriods in the asthma inhaler causing the canker sores. Asthma is way more dangerous than canker sores. I would not want my kid nervous or reluctant to use the inhaler. |
Anonymous
| Take her to see an allergist. Frequent canker sores can be a sign of a food allergy. |
Anonymous
It's probably not a food allergy, but it is certainly worth keeping a food journal for at least a couple of months to see if any foods exacerbate the condition. |
Anonymous
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Could it be cold sores?
My kid gets a sore in her mouth every now and again, looks like a white head pimple but in her mouth. I get cold sores as an adult and remember getting these when I was younger so think it’s how it starts |
Anonymous
+1 My kids had constant canker sores. Switched Colgate to Tom's of Maine, and it got better. It could also be a sign that your kid is tired, and/or lacks B12. I'm sure I lacked B12 when I was younger, and I had a lot of them, too. |
hooponopono
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I got them as a kid. My little sister once had over 20 of them at one time and was put on an opiod for the pain.
Rinse mouth with salt water is my suggestion. Yes a Dr. visit is good, but they weren't helpful when I took my son in for them. My son gets them frequently. Any little injury to the lower face area will cause one to form. I have a few tubes of benzocaine type stuff on hand. I'm sorry your little one is going through this. We did outgrown them! (my sis and I) |