I want to preface this post by saying that it is not sponsored, but I do receive a few cents commission if you make a purchase through my RewardStyle links. I also want to state that I am not a healthcare professional and you should consult with your dentist to discuss choices regarding your personal oral health.
I'm back today with a very unconventional post for me, but it's something I wish someone had made me aware of YEARS ago, and if this helps one person I will be grateful! Today we're talking canker sores... UGH it makes me want to knock on wood just typing those words! If you get them, then this post is for you, and if not, then I'll see you next week for a much more on-brand post. 😂
I have suffered from canker sores for as long as I can remember. If you're lucky enough to be unfamiliar with canker sores, they are lesions that form in the tissue of your mouth (cheeks, lips, gums, tongue, pretty much anywhere) that typically last a week or two. They are not cold sores and they're not contagious, just extremely painful and unfortunate. They can make it almost impossible to talk or eat, and are truly debilitating at times.
When I was a kid I had a ton of cavities and my dentist told me that I had acidic saliva, so I always sort of attributed that to the severity and frequency of my canker sores, whether or not that's actually the case. Any time I would bite my cheek or get any sort of scratch or cut inside my mouth, it would inevitably turn into a canker sore, and I would also have them pop up out of nowhere, even without any injury to my mouth. If you get canker sores, I'm sure you can relate!
Over the years, I've tried pretty much everything short of making a deal with the devil to prevent canker sores and help heal them quicker, from rinsing with saltwater and peroxide, to attempting to dry them out with alum. I've even had them chemically cauterized before, which is as unpleasant as it sounds!
I started going to a new dentist recently and mentioned my canker sores to her, and she recommended I try sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) free toothpaste because SLS (a surfactant found in most toothpastes) can be irritating to some people and has been linked to increased occurrences of canker sores. She named a few different brand that I could try but I couldn't find them locally, so I did some research and ended up ordering a tube of the Verve Ultra brand because it has great ratings and it is SLS-free but still contains fluoride - many SLS-free options do not contain fluoride.
Many SLS-free options are readily available at drugstores and health food store, and they're are all available over-the-counter, they're nothing special that you'd need a prescription for. I'm linking the one I've been using, along with some other fluoridated, SLS-free options at the bottom of the post.
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| Verve Ultra |
I can't often call a product *literally* life-changing, but SLS-free toothpaste has truly made my life so much better since I started using it back in April. I was cautiously optimistic when I began using it because I feel like every canker sore remedy that I've tried before that has promised results has fallen short. To me, what proved that this works is that in the past few months I have bitten my lips/cheeks which in the past was guaranteed to give me a canker sore, but every time I have done it since using this toothpaste, the bites have healed up in a day or two with no issue whatsoever. I cannot tell you how relieving that has been! I will say, I have had a few "pop-up" canker sores since using this toothpaste (3-4 in the past few months), but I feel like they have healed a little more quickly that they usually would, which is great.
Verve also claims to be whitening which is not something I necessarily cared about, but I have definitely seen a difference in the whiteness of my teeth over the past few months. I also picked up a couple of fluoridated SLS-free options from Hello and Burt's Bees to try (which both have the ADA seal of acceptance), so I will update you on how those work for me. The only downside of SLS-free toothpaste is that it doesn't get foamy when you brush like you'd expect a toothpaste to. Surfactant ingredients are what cause that foaming sensation, so you're missing out on that with SLS-free toothpastes.
If you suffer from canker sores, I highly recommend you try an SLS-free toothpaste to see if it works for you (after talking to your dentist first!) It has made such a difference in the frequency and severity of my canker sores and now that I finally know about it, I could not live without it.
Happy brushing!
xoxx, Laura
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