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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffTreatment usually isn't necessary for minor canker sores, which tend to clear on their own in a week or two. But large, persistent or unusually painful lesions often need medical care. A number of treatment options exist, ranging from mouth rinses and topical ointments to systemic corticosteroids for the most severe cases.
- Mouth rinses. If you have a number of canker sores, your doctor may prescribe a mouth rinse containing the steroid dexamethasone to reduce pain and inflammation. Oral suspensions of the antibiotic tetracycline also can reduce pain and cut healing time, but tetracycline has drawbacks. It can make you more susceptible to oral thrush, a fungal infection that causes painful mouth lesions, and it can permanently discolor children's teeth.
- Topical pastes. Over-the-counter and prescription pastes such as Orabase, triamcinolone acetonide (Kenalog in Orabase), amlexanox (Aphthasol) and fluocinonide (Lidex) can help relieve pain and speed healing if applied to individual lesions as soon as they appear.
- Oral medications. Medications not intended specifically for canker sore treatment, such as the heartburn drug cimetidine (Tagamet) and colchicine, which is normally used to treat gout, may be helpful for canker sores. Oral steroid medications are sometimes prescribed when severe canker sores don't respond to other treatments. But because the side effects of steroids are so serious, this is usually considered a treatment of last resort.
- Debacterol. This topical solution was specifically designed to treat canker sores and gum problems. By chemically cauterizing lesions, it reduces healing time to about a week.
- Nutritional supplements. Your doctor is likely to prescribe a nutritional supplement if you're low in important nutrients, such as folate (folic acid), vitamins B-6, B-12 and zinc.
- Alternative treatments. There are a number of drug-free options for treating and preventing canker sores, including zinc lozenges, large doses of vitamin C and B complex, probiotics such as acidophilus, and lysine supplements. Some people make a paste of alum, slippery elm powder or deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) and apply it directly to the sores.
- Other conditions. If your canker sores seem to be related to a more serious health problem, your doctor will treat the underlying condition.
