hi everyone my name is whitney and i am
a dental hygienist if you're new here
welcome if you've been here before
welcome back let's talk about why the
inside of your cheek may be peeling or
sloughing away
so i've had lots of patients throughout
the years tell me that they notice
tissue actually sloughing or peeling off
in their mouths so anytime us dental
professionals see skin inside of the
mouth peeling off we usually need to use
a process of illumination to figure out
what's causing it so let's talk about
the five most common reasons you might
be noticing this and let's figure out if
any of these speak true to you sls one
of the top causes of inside cheek
peeling is from the ingredients sodium
lauryl sulfate or sls sls is in a lot of
toothpaste blends because of the way it
helps hold all the other ingredients
together and sls also causes the foaming
action which makes some toothpastes a
bit more bubbly and foamy than others
however on a microscopic level sls is an
irritant some people are more sensitive
to certain irritants than others with
sls being one of the top offenders so
people who tend to have sensitive skin
or react to sls will usually see the
inside of their mouth peeling after a
while of using a toothpaste that
contains sls and something to know it's
not necessarily going to happen if
you're using general products that
contain sls like hand soap but if you
are putting it in your mouth in the form
of toothpaste sometimes it can be an
issue so of course always mention it to
your dentist or dental hygienist if it's
something you've been noticing they will
be able to give you recommendations for
toothpaste products that do not contain
sls as an active ingredient you can also
read the labels to find which ones are
free of sls oftentimes sensitivity
toothpastes do not contain sls so by
process of elimination the easiest way
to figure out if your cheek is peeling
from sls ingredients is to simply stop
using the toothpaste that contain it and
start using one that doesn't have it and
then after a couple of weeks evaluate
your mouth and see if there's a
difference if there is it was likely due
to the sls but if there isn't you're
about to do some more detective work
like maybe you're biting your cheeks
some of us tend to clinch and bite our
teeth so much that we catch the inside
of our cheeks without even knowing it
and it's like a callus our mouths can
develop roughened skin where the
irritation is always occurring you might
see the peeling skin in a straight line
right inside of your cheek right where
your teeth hit together in some cases
there is even a scalloped shape to it
based on the biting edges of your smile
and like we said cheek fighting may be
habitual or because of stress and
concentration chances are you really
probably don't even realize you're doing
it usually the best advice for this is
to address whatever you're focusing on
or stressing over that's causing it
another thing that may be causing cheek
peeling could be food allergies if
you're eating a highly acidic diet it
could be irritating the mucous membranes
inside of your mouth other times people
develop food allergies as they get older
even though food allergies don't
typically cause your skin to peel they
can cause redness and dry patches
similar to eczema a rash around your
mouth and face is also common this is
something to definitely clue both your
dentist and physician in on so you can
figure out what food might be causing
the issue next up oral trauma have you
ever burned your mouth on a piece of
pizza it's much more common than you
probably thought usually food burns
happen and the roof of your mouth where
that hot gooey cheese gets stuck on your
palette and then after a day or two the
skin there starts to peel other oral
trauma is poking or cutting the inside
of your mouth with a tortilla chip i'm
not making this up we see it all the
time in the dental offices those
tortilla chips and as your gums start to
heal in those spaces there's usually a
little peeling and of course there's a
bunch of other examples of oral trauma
sporting accidents car wrecks and other
injuries that can be to blame and lastly
oral thrush thrush or candidiasis is a
type of yeast infection it's common in
people who are taking antibiotics people
who are immunocompromised or have an
undiagnosed systemic disease if you know
you're going to be taking antibiotics it
can be super helpful to eat yogurt or
take probiotics to reduce your chances
of developing oral thrush and the thing
about thrush is that a typical thrush
outbreak will have white residue that
can be wiped away and then you could see
a red raw skin underneath it might be on
the roof of your mouth or inside of the
cheeks so if this is you schedule an
appointment with your dentist or a
physician asap because it can be easily
managed with a topical steroid cream or
other prescription drugs so in all what
do you do if you start to notice skin
peeling inside of your mouth do you call
your dentist right away not necessarily
right away if it's not causing pain and
especially if it's something isolated
and temporary like from a pizza burn
give it a few days but if it's hurting
you like from a filling or braces you'll
definitely want to have your dentist
adjust it to eliminate the irritant at
the source for chronic peeling skin that
doesn't respond to changing up your
toothpaste of course be sure to bring
that issue up to your dentist it's
always best to be on the safe side and
although peeling skin is often nothing
serious it's important to rule out oral
cancer or other autoimmune diseases that
you might not have known you have
because yes your dentist does know how
to screen for those symptoms too
dentists are doctors of the mouth they
are trained in oral and systemic
pathology not just teeth so if you have
skin peeling inside of your mouth your
dentist office is one of the best places
you can go schedule an appointment i
hope this video helped you please like
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time i'll see you on instagram teeth
talk girl peace love and teeth