At some point in their lives, babies and children will experience some types of soreness in their mouths. If you are a mother to a baby under 24 months of age, you may have witnessed how the emerging teeth can create so many discomforts and pain on your baby.
If you are a mother to young children, you may have encountered some instances when your child comes to you, whining and crying, because there is an ulcer in his or her mouth that makes eating or drinking fairly uncomfortable.
WHEN YOUR CHILD EXPERIENCES ORAL DISCOMFORT
Back to the time when my daughter was teething as a baby, some of her obvious teething symptoms encompassed heavy drooling, fussiness, trouble sleeping, which occasionally went on until the break of dawn and excessive biting behaviour that lasted for weeks.
Of all her teething experiences, one most harrowing occurrence was when she was teething her molar, which is said to be more painful than teething little incisors, at 2.5 years old. That was truly one teething phase to remember.
On top of having broken sleep for a few consecutive days, my daughter became extremely irritable and sobbed day and night because of that one molar she was sprouting. Since then on, I always braced myself when it comes to handling a teething baby or toddler because teething is, without a doubt, no easy business for the parents either.
Done dealing with painful gums during the teething stage, I progressed to handle a different type of oral discomfort on my children. When my daughter was 3 years old, she was infected by Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD) from one of her schoolmates in the nursery school.
To me, HFMD is one of the most stressful childhood diseases to manage because it is highly contagious and awful for little ones to bear.
Aside from having fever and lethargy from contracting this virus, my daughter was crying a lot as she suffered from plenty of agonising sores in her mouth. These ulcers made eating, swallowing, and drinking severely difficult for her for at least 5 days. For these reasons, until today, I still dread HFMD tremendously, especially when it is in the season.
Also, mouth ulcers, that are common in children, come across every now and then. There are indeed days when one of my children suddenly eats less, becomes grouchy, and sometimes gets teary a bit because there is a small lesion in the mouth.
If your child is currently experiencing any of the aforementioned situations, understanding the following causes of children’s oral pain and discomfort, as well as some tips to treat them, may be helpful for you.
COMMON ORAL PAIN AND DISCOMFORT IN BABIES AND CHILDREN
Did you know that teething and mouth ulcers are some of the common pediatric oral pain and discomforts?
Teething is the process by which a baby’s teeth erupt or break through the gums, generally at the age of 6–24 months old. Teething is often associated with gum and jaw discomforts as the infant’s tooth prepares to erupt through the gum surface and it can create discomfort, pain around the gums, and prolonged fussiness on babies.
Mouth ulcers are painful and shallow ulcers or sores on the lining of the mouths, inner lips, or gums. Mouth ulcers on children are typically caused by:
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Canker sores
Canker sores, also known as aphthous ulcers, are small, shallow lesions that develop on the mouth’s soft tissues or at the base of the gums. They can be painful and make eating difficult but are not contagious nor serious. Most canker sores clear up on their own in a week or two.
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Cold sores
Cold sores are small painful blisters that can appear around the mouth. It is caused by herpes simplex virus and children can contract this virus by kissing, touching or sharing eating utensils, towels, and other items with an infected person.
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Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD)
HFMD is a common illness among children and infants caused by systemic infections with human enteroviruses, the Coxsackie virus.
It causes excruciating multiple ulcers in the mouth and mainly on the tongue and sides of the mouth. Hence, the irritability and loss of appetite on children. It may also cause small blisters on the palms and soles.
There is no specific treatment for HFMD. HFMD is usually treated symptomatically as there are no specific medicines that can kill the viruses. Adequate hydration and rest are also important when your child has HFMD.
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Mouth injury
Lip biting habits, tongue or inside of the cheeks biting incidents while eating, brushing too hard and braces are some of the common mouth injuries children can experience as the inside of the mouth is delicate. These mouth injuries may bring on canker sores.
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Mouth burns
Consuming hot food and drinks may precipitate irritations on the inside of the mouth and cause mouth sores.
TIPS TO REDUCE ORAL PAIN AND DISCOMFORT ON CHILDREN
When your baby is teething, massaging your baby gums, giving a cold washcloth or non-gel teething rings and toys to chew on will provide relief on his or her sore gums.
If your child is experiencing mouth sores due to simple mouth ulcers or HFMD, the following solutions may ease your child’s symptoms:
1. Stay hydrated
Get your child to drink enough fluids by offering small, frequent sips of water. Your child may be reluctant to drink water when his or her mouth is in pain, but try to encourage your child to have sufficient amount of fluids to keep your child hydrated.
2. Avoid certain food
Sour/citrusy, salty, and spicy food might aggravate the oral discomfort. As such, refrain from eating these foods until the ulcers heal. Instead, serve soft and cold food that does not require much chewing to your child.
3. Saltwater rinses
Saltwater gargles aid in soothing sore throats, gum and mouth pain. Regularly rinse your child’s mouth with warm; slightly salted water if your child is old enough rinse or gargle with liquids.
4. Keep your child’s mouth clean
Maintaining oral hygiene when there is a mouth ulcer is important. Make sure you gently brush your child’s teeth with a small-headed, soft toothbrush when there are mouth ulcers around as brushing teeth during this period can be painful.
5. Use topical mouth gel
If your child is in pain due to teething or mouth ulcers, try applying analgesic mouth gel, such as Oral Aid Gel, to the affected area. Analgesic mouth gel provides soothing relief from oral pain and discomforts.
Note that if the pain in your children’s mouths is caused by cold sores, thrush, or other viruses or illnesses, you should seek advice from your doctor as there are specific treatments for these kinds of mouth infections.
INSTANT RELIEF WITH ORAL AID GEL!
Oral Aid Gel is a pain-relieving gel for gums or inside of the mouth’s application. It is translucent, almost colourless to straw gel, and contains choline salicylate (a local analgesic), which is a pain killer; anti-inflammatory and effective property to heal sore areas in the mouth. It also has cetalkonium fluoride, an antiseptic that can kill bacteria and helps prevent infection.
Benefits of Oral Aid Gel:
- Reduces pain and discomforts from common mouth ulcers and some symptoms associated with HFMD.
- Helps in healing sore spots and ulcers due to dentures in adults and braces in children.
- Relieves the pain and discomforts of infant teething and cold sores.
Oral Aid Gel is enriched with Aloe Vera, has no alcohol and is sugar-free; hence, it is safe to be applied on babies above 4 months old and children!
Oral Gel Aid is available in original and strawberry flavours.
How to use Oral Aid Gel on children:
Use a clean finger; massage approximately a half-centimetre of Oral Aid Gel onto the sore area and not more than once every 3 hours.
Make sure you keep Oral Aid Gel at home and apply it on your child’s gum or mouth every time your child experiences oral discomforts and pain as a result of teething or mouth ulcers.
GET YOUR ORAL AID GEL NOW!
Now you can purchase Oral Aid Gel online here.