Doctor says "Do it"; Dentist says "Don't"! What do I do?

[KatyMac]

It's use Corsadyl mouthwash (I have bad ulcers)

So who do I believe & why?

IMO corsodyl is massively overrated. People seem to think it's a panacea for all oral ills but it's definitely not.

The list of things that can cause ulcers is massive. SLS (found in lots of toothpastes) cinnamon, if you're nickel sensitive then foods high in nickel (chocolate, tuna, oranges amongst lots of others), pineapple, anything that causes you gastric problems because the skin in your mouth is pretty much the same as the skin all through your gut, malaria medications, there are so many.

Most aphthous ulcers are idiopathic, there's no identifiable cause and it's unlikely to be because of some underlying illness or deficiency but it is possible. In nearly ten years, I've seen one case of this that was attributed to an issue with white blood cells.

In elderly people, sometimes a zinc deficiency can contribute. Often the cause is minor trauma that then becomes infected and hot salt water is great for controlling that in the early stages.

Look carefully at the ingredients in your toothpaste. A couple of times I've bought a slightly different formulation of the same toothpaste by accident (in a similar package to sensodyne repair and protect), and each time I developed inflamed gums and mouth users within a couple of days use. I think it is an ingredient called Xanthan gum which caused it in my case.

I have a lot of gut & auto-immune issues (ibs/cfs/fm) so maybe one of my intolerances?

Although I'm on an exclusion diet so not eating a lot

I suffer from lots of ulcers - apthous ulcers - and I remember my dentist told me not to use Corsydol. Careful with cinnamon - I was referred to hospital for my ulcers, and an allergy specialist found an allergy to cinnamon. I was given a big list of foods and drinks to avoid. Most toothpastes contain cinnamon and affect my mouth badly. I can only use Colgate Original toothpaste. I'd use salt. stings but seems to help.

If your ulcer lasts longer than two weeks - go back to the dr - it can be a sign of more serious issues.

mrsmorton - I wish I'd read back through the posts before posting. You've given a great answer, and given me something to think about. I'm allergic to nickel as well as cinnamon, and I hadn't realised nickel is in food! I know that chocolate gives me ulcers on the soft palette, but didn't know about the nickel. I will Google nickel in food...thank you!

ds2 (asd) has massive ulcer flare ups when he gets too stressed and this summer has seen the worst ever as he was leaving school to go to college

I took him to the GP having tried TCP and unsuccesfully trying to get him to gargle with salt water . GP prescribed Difflam oral rinse (benzydamine hydrochloride) to take the edge off the pain as he had stopped eating solids altogether. After 2 bottles of that he tried the difflam oral spray which was more effective. You can get the oral rinse without prescription but its £10+

ps. sorry for hijacking thread a bit, but I've lived with ulcers for, erm, 20 years, and really want to pass on advice that may help you. Cinnamon does not have to be listed in the ingredients of food or drink, so you have to get hold of the kind of list I got from the specialist. eg you won't find it listed on: red wine, biscuits, tomato sauce, heinz beans, toothpaste...long list...

So if anyone gets ulcers, try avoiding the stuff mrsmorton mentioned.

Well I'm excluding all of those atm anyway

I am off: Milk & dairy, eggs, coconut, almonds, pluses (no baked beans), onions & garlic (no bought sauces), loads of fruit

I can have meat & potatoes & peppers & green spring onions & bread & bananas - no cinnamon in those......maybe my problem is a lack of cinnamon?

you only know what's in the bread if you make it yourself. Or trust the baker knows what's in it. Try Colgate Original for at least 3 weeks - the red tube with no fancy whitening or extra stuff. See if things improve.

I suspect you are not short on cinnamon I doubt that's possible. I have access to peer reviewed journal articles for my job, and I haven't noticed any discussing cinnamon shortage. Oh wait ... you were kidding

I do & I made the burgers for tea last night too - but I couldn't eat either

Is it worth 2 co-codamol to eat a cinnamon free breakfast? I think I'll wait until lunch.......

So dh had 20 years plus of awful mouth ulcers and pissed off with his glum ulcer face I made him try random stuff people rated online. l-lysine and vit b although it is the l-lysine that really works have transformed him to entirely ulcer free. If he stops it eventually be gets an ulcer or a crop of them but restarting makes them go in days instead of weeks.

DD gets them too but not with the supplements. We are an entirely non woo family but this works. We know other people it has really worked for too so try it. There was nothing else he hadn't tried.

Good job I am seeing the dentist tomorrow - I now have a small hard lump under my tongue

Never heard of non woo - can someone translate please?

'woo' is alternative or maybe unconventional - hth

Mouth ulcers can also point to gluten intolerance, so that might be another thing to watch out for!

Thanks I've had the blood test & a biopsey bith negative

Another vote here for following dentists advice as opposed to doctor .
Remember the G as in general in GP ?

And another who finds zinc and Lysine helpful for mouth ulcers . Though poor KatyMac with that restrictive a diet maybe you are lacking in certain elements ?

Speaking as someone who has currently got oral thrush ...I do wonder if the antiseptic element of Cordosyl really does ,as claimed ,deal with fungal infections ?
Or possibly make them worse ?

Really hope you're better soon .

You can buy liquorice tea bags - Clipper I think - from health food shops .Very yummy .

Like indecisiveandcluless, I was going to mention gluten/wheat too, especially after your comment about the lump under the tongue (can be autoimmune related/metabolic syndrome related.

Re coeliac or wheat allergy, a positive test is positive, but a negative test is not really negative - the biopsy mean that particular bit of the gut is ok, not the whole gut. The blood tests are looking at ranges, so if the number is below a certain cutoff it's "negative", but the disease process could still be there.

I guess that as you have had those tests, you had other symptoms of possible coeliac - if so, I think it would be worth you doing something radical like completely and utterly remove ALL trace of ALL grains from your diet for a few weeks (google paleo challenge or whole30 for ideas and info), just to see what happens when you reintroduce each grain...

Really

Oh poo - I was hoping just to cut down to spelt

Bread & meat is all I eat atm

I know, poor you... Your list is looking pretty restrictive ATM!
Been there, done it and have added some things back in (occasional white rice, occasional baby potatoes) but remain grain free (with the exception of the white rice), as I react strongly to very small amounts of gluten and cross react to processed maize flours too. And yet a few years ago, I was living on the stuff - wheat at every meal (and was really quite unwell in a lot of "minor" ways).

I am about to try egg again, the yolk is a migraine trigger for me but anecdotal evidence from paleo blogs suggest a lot of people stop reacting to other dietary intolerances after they start eating "clean" ie no additives, no grains, no legumes...

I'm hoping that will be the case for me, I'd love to have fried eggs for breakfast!

I mean, after they have eaten that way for many months/years, the gut may heal, meaning not leaking food proteins into the blood to the same extent, so fewer other food reactions iykwim