A Comprehensive Review on Oral Aphthous Ulcer

Mouth ulcer is a very common and painful condition, which is categorized as aphthous stomatitis. It is most commonly seen in early childhood and adolescence. These ulcers are small round with circumscribed margins with yellow floor. They are pearl coloured flakes in the mouth or inside the lips. These are oral mucosal lesions and these ulcers are commonly called as Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis (RAS). There are also different types of ulcers like minor ulcers which are not very large in size and heal within 7-14 days, major ulcers heal slowly which can extend up to weeks or months and the third one is herpetiform ulcer which is multiple pinpoint ulcers that heal within a month. Some reason for the occurrence of ulcers could be stress, trauma, stopping smoking, menstruation and food allergy. Sometimes it could also be due to deficiency of iron, vitamin B12. In children aphthae occurs also due to periodic or high fever, pharyngitis and cervical adenitis.