Most gum sores are canker sores, small round ulcers that heal on their own within one to two weeks. You can speed that timeline and reduce pain with a few simple home treatments. The right approach depends on what type of sore you’re dealing with, what’s triggering it, and how often it comes back.
Identify What Kind of Sore You Have
Sores inside the mouth and sores outside the mouth are completely different conditions with different treatments. Canker sores (aphthous ulcers) form only inside the mouth, on the gums, inner cheeks, lips, or tongue. They appear as single round white or yellow sores with a red border, and they are not contagious.
Cold sores (fever blisters), on the other hand, are caused by the herpes simplex virus and typically form outside the mouth around the border of the lips. They look like patches of small fluid-filled blisters rather than a single open sore, and they are very contagious. If your sore is on your gums or inner cheek and looks like a shallow white crater, you’re almost certainly dealing with a canker sore. The treatments below focus on canker sores, since those are the most common type found on gum tissue.
Salt Water Rinse
A salt water rinse is the simplest and most widely recommended first step. Salt water helps disinfect the ulcer, reduces inflammation, and may promote faster wound healing. Mix one teaspoon of table salt into eight ounces of warm water until fully dissolved. Swish the solution gently around your mouth for 15 to 30 seconds, then spit it out. You can do this up to four times a day, including after meals. If the rinse stings too much, cut the salt to half a teaspoon.
Over-the-Counter Numbing Gels
Topical numbing products containing benzocaine are available at most pharmacies and provide temporary pain relief by dulling the nerve endings around the sore. Apply a small amount directly to the sore as needed, but no more than four times per day. Don’t use these products for more than two consecutive days without checking with a dentist or doctor, and don’t use them on children younger than two.
You can also find adhesive oral patches at drugstores that stick over the sore and create a protective barrier. These keep food and drinks from irritating the ulcer and can make eating much more comfortable.
Honey as a Healing Agent
Honey has real evidence behind it for oral ulcers, not just folk-remedy status. In one study, ulcers treated with honey healed in an average of about 2.7 days, compared to roughly 5.9 days with a standard prescription treatment and 7.1 days with no active treatment. Apply a small dab of honey directly to the sore twice a day. Raw, unprocessed honey works best. It forms a natural protective coating over the ulcer while its anti-inflammatory properties do the work underneath.
Coating the Sore for Protection
One of the most frustrating things about gum sores is that eating and drinking constantly re-irritates them. A liquid antacid containing aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide (the active ingredients in products like Maalox or Mylanta) can be dabbed onto the sore with a cotton swab to create a temporary protective coating. After applying, avoid eating or drinking for at least 30 minutes so the coating stays in place. This same principle is used in prescription “magic mouthwash” formulas that dentists sometimes recommend for severe cases.
What Causes Gum Sores to Keep Coming Back
Canker sores don’t have a single known cause, but several triggers make them more likely. Understanding yours is the best way to reduce how often they appear.
Physical trauma is one of the most common triggers. Biting your cheek or gum, aggressive toothbrushing, sharp edges on braces, or ill-fitting dentures can all break the delicate tissue inside your mouth and kick off an ulcer. If you notice sores after dental work or in spots where something rubs, the fix may be as simple as switching to a soft-bristled toothbrush or getting an appliance adjusted.
Stress plays a well-documented role. When you’re under pressure, your body releases cortisol and other stress hormones that alter how your immune system functions, changing the number and activity of immune cells in ways that can make your mouth lining more vulnerable to breakdown. Stress also increases unconscious habits like lip and cheek biting, which directly damages the tissue. If your sores tend to show up during high-pressure periods at work or school, the pattern is probably not coincidental.
Hormonal shifts, nutritional gaps, and certain foods (especially acidic or spicy ones) round out the list of common triggers. While large studies haven’t found that vitamin B12, folate, or iron deficiency is the cause for most people with recurrent canker sores, individual cases do exist. If your sores are frequent and you suspect your diet is lacking, a simple blood count from your doctor can rule out deficiencies.
Switch to SLS-Free Toothpaste
This is one of the most actionable changes you can make. Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is the foaming agent in most commercial toothpastes, and a systematic review of clinical trials found that switching to an SLS-free toothpaste significantly reduced the number of ulcers, the duration of each ulcer, the number of recurrent episodes, and the level of pain. All four measures improved consistently. Look for “SLS-free” on the label. Several major brands now offer SLS-free versions, and they clean your teeth just as well.
When Home Remedies Aren’t Enough
Most canker sores resolve within 7 to 14 days without any treatment at all. But if your sores are unusually large, last longer than two weeks, keep coming back frequently, or hurt so much that you can’t eat, a dentist or doctor can prescribe stronger options. Prescription-strength topical steroids applied directly to the sore can shorten healing time and reduce pain, though they won’t prevent future outbreaks. Medicated mouth rinses can also reduce the severity and pain of active ulcers.
Persistent or unusually large sores that don’t respond to any treatment deserve professional evaluation, since other conditions, from infections to autoimmune diseases, can mimic the appearance of a canker sore.