It just isn’t pleasant when the roof of your mouth hurts or feels sore. It reduces your desire to eat or drink and makes you wince when you talk. Keep reading to find out what can cause this pain and what treatments and home aids may offer relief.
What can cause soreness in the roof of the mouth?
Various health issues can cause the pain you feel in the hard and soft palates that form the roof of your mouth. Some of the common causes are listed below.
Mouth sores
Mouth sores can form on the roof of your mouth. These include a small mouth ulcer that can cause pain and tingling called a canker sore. Common causes of these include:
-
Stress
-
Hormones
-
Mouth trauma
-
Lack of certain nutrients
Mouth sores that cause pain might also include small lesions or blisters that crop up in, on, or around your mouth. These are known as a cold or herpes sore, or fever blister. In most cases, cold sores are caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) but can also be caused by HSV-2.
Mouth trauma
Your hard or soft palates may feel tender and painful due to mouth trauma. Common ways to injure your palate involve cuts or scratches such as those caused by eating hard or sharp foods. Eating or drinking items that are too hot can also cause painful burns and blisters.
Oral thrush
The Candida albicans fungus can cause a mouth yeast infection called oral thrush. People with a weakened immune system are at highest risk of getting it.
Cream or pale yellow lesions sprout on the roof and other areas of your mouth. These can bleed and cause mouth soreness or cracked lips.
Oral thrush can also mute your sense of taste.
Squamous papilloma
The human papilloma virus (HPV) can cause squamous papillomas (warts) to erupt on the roof of the mouth. The warts are usually white and look like cauliflower.
These masses are not cancerous and may not always cause discomfort. But in some cases, chewing or biting them can irritate the growth and cause pain.
Oral cancer
The pain you feel in the roof of your mouth may point to a more serious health problem. For example, palate pain that occurs alongside other symptoms may be the sign of an oral cancer.
What other symptoms can you feel besides pain and soreness in the roof of your mouth?
You may have other symptoms at or around the same time as pain in the roof of your mouth. These symptoms help your health provider determine the next course of action. This includes what tests may be needed to diagnose the cause of your symptoms and what treatment options may work best.
For instance, swelling often goes hand in hand with pain in the roof of your mouth. Other common symptoms are listed below.
Dry mouth
Dry mouth can occur when your saliva glands are blocked. The medical term for this is xerostomia.
It can also occur when you are dehydrated or sustain trauma or burns to your mouth. And it can be tied to drugs you take or other health issues such as diabetes. Your mouth or throat may feel parched and sores may form.
Burning or tingling
The affected portion of your mouth may tingle or feel as if it’s burning before a canker or cold sore erupts. Dry mouth and oral thrush can also cause this burning feeling.
Fever
Fever may also be present if the pain in the roof of your mouth is caused by illness or infection.
Cold
A cold sore may erupt during the course of an illness such as the common cold. You may have a sore throat or swollen lymph nodes. You may also feel tired and have body aches and pains.
What does a healthy roof of the mouth look like?
Your mouth’s hard palate is toward the front of your mouth. It has ridges and feels firm.
Your soft palate or velum sits toward the back of your mouth behind the hard palate. It has a soft and fleshy texture and feels somewhat smooth.
For some, a healthy palate appears reddish pink. For others, the color may look a shade of brown or black. This all depends on how much of the melanin skin pigment your body makes.
What treatments are there for pain in the roof of the mouth?
The pain in the roof of your mouth tends to resolve within a few days or weeks without any treatment. This is often the case for minor mouth trauma and sores.
But in some cases, treatment may be needed. This can involve treating the underlying illness or disease to also treat the pain in the roof of your mouth.
It may also include newer forms of treatment such as laser therapy to remove cysts or warts.
Or it may involve more common treatments such as:
-
Pain relievers, which may include medicine applied on cold sores (such as Abreva) or canker sores and minor cuts in your mouth (such as Debacterol)
-
Oral thrush medicines such as fluconazole (Diflucan)
-
Medicated mouthwash and oral gels and pastes for mouth trauma and burns
-
Cryotherapy to freeze growths such as warts
-
Steroids to temper swelling and boost healing of mouth sores
-
Electrosurgery to heat and destroy severe cysts and warts with electric currents
What home remedies help ease roof of the mouth pain?
Along with over-the-counter (OTC) products to ease pain and swelling, you can also:
-
Mix 1 teaspoon of salt with ½ cup of warm water and rinse your mouth for 30 seconds before spitting it out.
-
Gently suck on ice chips or apply a piece of ice over the affected area.
-
Drink more healthy fluids such as water and eat water-rich foods such as melons to help hydrate your mouth and support good health.
What can I do to help prevent pain and soreness in the roof of my mouth?
Along with staying well hydrated, try to:
-
Cut down or stay away from foods that have too much spice, salt, or acids.
-
Quit or keep away from tobacco products as they can lead to oral cancer and other health issues that irritate the roof of the mouth.
-
Brush and floss your teeth gently to keep your mouth clean and free of germs that cause infection.
-
Cool foods and drinks that can scald your mouth to prevent burns.
-
Take small bites of food and chew gently to keep from hurting your palates.
Also, aim to keep stress in check as too much of it can cause mouth sores to erupt.
When should I get medical care for pain in the roof of my mouth?
Be sure to get care from your health provider for pain in the roof of your mouth that is:
-
Severe
-
Persists or is getting worse (instead of getting better)
-
Accompanied by other symptoms that are severe or won’t go away
-
Infected (pain is accompanied by fever, swelling, or pus)
Get prompt medical care for:
-
Trauma to your mouth that results in severe bleeding or infection
-
Fever of 103°F or higher that reoccurs or does not respond to cooling measures such as taking OTC drugs to bring down your body temperature
-
Inflamed palates that make it hard for you to breathe or swallow foods or drinks
Getting prompt care for oral cancer
Common symptoms of oral cancer include mouth or lip sores that do not heal and mouth pain that persists. You may also notice other symptoms such as:
-
Lumps or growths in your mouth, neck, or throat that form for unknown reasons
-
Hoarse voice or sore throat that does not improve
-
Feeling of something being caught in your throat that persists or recurs
-
Pain or problems with chewing, swallowing, or moving your jaw or tongue
-
Numbness in areas of the face or throat such as the lower lip or chin
-
Red or white patches inside your mouth
-
Teeth or dentures become loose
-
Ear pain
These may not be present during the early stages of the disease. But should any of them show up and then last for more than 2 weeks, it is necessary that you see your health provider right away.
Finding and treating cancer as early as possible raises the likelihood of successful treatment and short- and long-term survival.
The bottom line
The pain in the roof of your mouth can be caused by a wide array of issues, from minor ailments and mouth trauma to more serious health problems such as oral cancer. Treatments include OTC medication as well as home remedies. More serious issues need specific treatments, so check with your healthcare provider.
References
Baigrie, D., et al. (2021). Electrosurgery. StatPearls.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Oral health tips.
Correa, M. E. P., et al. (2019). Systematic review of oral cryotherapy for the management of oral mucositis in cancer patients and clinical practice guidelines. Support Care Cancer.
Hammel, J. M., et al. (2019). Dental emergencies. Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America.
Helwany, M., et al. (2021). Anatomy, head and neck, palate. StatPearls.
InformedHealth.org. (2019). Canker sores (mouth ulcers): Overview.
InformedHealth.org. (2019). Oral thrush: Overview.
Khan, J., et al. (2019). Acute and chronic pain in orofacial trauma patients. Journal of Endodontics.
Kiran, M. S., et al. (2017). Systemic and topical steroids in the management of oral mucosal lesions. Journal of Pharmacy & BioAllied Sciences.
Kumarswamy, A. (2016). Multimodal management of dental pain with focus on alternative medicine: A novel herbal dental gel. Contemporary Clinical Dentistry.
National Cancer Institute. (2021). Mouth and throat problems: Cancer treatment side effects.
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. (2018). Dry mouth.
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. (2021). Fever blisters & canker sores.
Taylor, M., et al. (2021). Oral candidiasis. StatPearls.
Wong, T., et al. (2020). Common causes of ‘swelling’ in the oral cavity. Dentistry.
View article originally posted on GoodRx.com.
