I've suffered canker sores since I was very young. When I got into University later on in life, I discovered that it was citrus (namely oranges) that was the culprit. Why? This poor starving University student couldn't afford to buy fresh fruit lol. So that was one mystery solved, and I thought I had them figured out.

Then I quit smoking 5+ years ago, and the cankers returned! Why though? It took me quite some time to figure it out, but I finally decided to quit my newly acquired habit - chewing sugar free gum.

I went from having cankers that were so large they left scars in my mouth, and lasted for weeks. I even went so far as seeing a Rheumy as my GP and I thought there was the possibility of Behçet's Syndrome (Disease) (I also had Erythema Nodosum, which can present with severe ulcers in the mouth, other areas of the body, in those with Behçet's).

So I've been off the gum for well over a month now, and when I do get a canker sore, it's a tiny pin point one that is gone in a day! So glad to have finally found a major trigger and eliminated it.

I also stopped using toothpaste with SLS as an ingredient, as I've heard this can also trigger mouth issues.

Hope this info can help another who may be suffering from cankers. Horrible things. Stay well everyone.

Hi dmplaura,

Thanks for sharing that great information with us! So glad you have found at least a few triggers to the canker sores! Hope the eliminations continue to be successful for you!!

What toothpaste are using now?

Bryanna

You're welcome! I do hope it helps another.

I've been using Sensodyne "Rapid relief". It contains no SLS, at least our formula for the toothpaste in Canada (I was actually going to try Tom's of Maine, but was sad to see that it does contain SLS).

I'm not sure if the elimination of the SLS in toothpaste was ultimately the most helpful here. I tend to believe it was the sugar free gum causing the break outs. I knew sweeteners were bad, but never linked them to cankers. I virtually eliminated all sweeteners from diet that I could. Better for my health all around!