Mouth Sores, Pineapple and Toothpaste

In a message dated 11/4/2003, Dot suggested pineapple might work to help with mouth sores.

Please remember that mouth sores are basically small ulcers. For many people, anything acidic like pineapple or citrus can irritate the sore and cause it to become worse.

I've suffered from canker sores for years and found very few things that helped. Even though the things the doctor and dentist prescribed would numb the site temporarily, the pain always came back. I always thought they got worse when I treated them and lasted longer (about 2 weeks).

After a very bad bout of multiple sores in both the mouth and throat, I spent some time on the internet. I found a study from Norway that linked canker sores to SLS,one of the common ingredients, in tooth paste.

The ingredient was developed as an industrial degreaser in the 30's or 40's.
It's found in everything from shampoo to bubble bath. It's purpose is to cause foaming and cleansing but isn't really necessary for brushing teeth.

In the mouth, it keeps a canker sore so clean that the beneficial bacteria can't coat and heal the sore in the usual 2-3 days.

I finally found a Rembrandt product that does not contain SLS. It's not particularly foamy which makes going back to something else weird. I still get an occasional sore but it only lasts a couple of days and enver enlarges to dime or nickel size the way they used to.

Pineapple is quite acidic and full of weird enzymes. That's why, if you put it in your still-liquid Jell-O, it won't jell. I can assure you that if you are prone to canker sores, pineapple is a bad idea. (I used to work summers in a cannery. My hands have never recovered.)

Papayas are better for canker sores if you can get them.

That's sodium laureth sulfate, which all of us probably see every day on our shampoo bottles. It is a foaming agent. It is starting to get some very tall tales told about it on the Internet. Tom's of Maine has some toothpastes out in several different pleasant flavors without SLS, but with fluoride and calcium.

Toothpaste really serves no purpose, except to leave your mouth with a minty feeling and make you feel you are accomplishing something to have made this lovely froth. My dentist tries to talk his patients into just flossing and brushing with saline or hydrogen peroxide, with or without sodium bicarbonate if you don't mind the taste. He says you really don't need anything but your toothbrush and your floss. Toothpaste, says he, is a pure waste of money. (Unless you live in a sane place that fluoridates their water. If there's no fluoride in your water, toothpaste can be a good way to get it to your teeth.)

Anyway, between toothbrushing and eating, I'd swish a little warm salt water around in my mouth a couple of times a day and see what that does to a canker sore. Can't hurt, it's very cheap, and it works. That's what I use.