How do You Get Rid of a Canker Sore?

First and foremost, doctors say, to prevent canker sores you should avoid toothpastes with sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS. SLS is a foaming agent in many brand name toothpastes, and studies done show that people who suffer from canker sores are up to 80% less likely to get those sores if they use toothpaste without SLS in them. I've listed a couple of these brands in the sidebar to the right if you're curious about which toothpastes canker sore suffers should use.

There are a number of possible canker sore causes, but nothing is certain. Stress could be causing your canker sores. Eating crunchy foods or foods with sharp edges, like chips, and spicy foods can be the cause of canker sores as well.

Even nutritional deficiencies have been attributed to recurring canker sores. Some professionals say that if you're experiencing enough canker sore episodes, you should keep a dietary journal to help your doctor recognize a pattern, and form canker-free diet from that. For canker sore relief, it is recommended that you try Benadryl Allergy liquid.

The suggested procedure for using Benadryl to relieve the pain from canker sores involves taking a spoonful of the medicine and swishing it over the canker sore for no less than a minute, after which you should spit the medicine out. You can do this several times a day for as long as you have the canker sore, but no more than six times a day. If a canker sore is particularly painful, you should try using a product like Orabase by Colgate.

Orabase contains benzocaine, a local anesthetic that can be applied to the canker sore to relieve severe pain. There are a number of products like Orabase on the market, and anything that contains benzocaine, lidocaine, or phenol—really, any type of local anesthetic—should do the trick if you have a particularly painful canker sore. Antibacterial agents have shown to help treat and get rid of canker sores.

When I say antibacterial agents, what I mean to say is any mouthwash that claims to kill bacteria. Mouthwashes like Listerine or Scope are perfect examples of antibacterial agents, but if you're not too keen on using a mouthwash you can always go with an iodine-based wash as well. Iodine makes for a great canker sore cure if applied regularly, but don't swallow it.

Boy, oh boy, there are a load of canker sore remedies on the market today. I was surprised, actually, to see just how many remedies there were. You can't go online and swing the proverbial dead cat without hitting a canker sore relief/treatment.

The thing about canker sore remedies (usually ointments), is that they all pretty much function the same: they use a chemical (usually benzocaine) to kill the pain caused by canker sores, and at the same time include some sort of antiseptic ingredient as well. Actually, a lot of them don't even use antiseptics, but an ingredient that also covers the tongue, or gums, or wherever you have the canker sore with a film to help protect it from the other things you put in your mouth. I don't want to know what you're putting in your mouth, but I will say that these treatments are a good thing because canker sores can't really be cured--it just takes time for them to heal.

If the canker sore remedy you're looking at says it dulls the pain and protects the sore, then that's good enough.