Treatment of apthous ulcers in children

Dear Ask The Doctor: My little girl 8 yearsold bit her lip inside her mouth in the front left side went to Doctors said nothing they can do just stay away frm acid foods nd spicey too. but she is in so much pain we'v trydd sum ice cool water damp napkin bamp cotten ball she says its burning her shes in cryin all night and this morning and its been a week now since we saw the Doc. it looks fater now win i seen it thismornin is there anything i can do to help her pain or should i takeher tothe ER now?

Dear Brenda: It is most probable that your daughter has developed aphthous ulcers also called canker sores. Aphthous ulcers are associated with local pain and discomfort. Factors predisposing to aphthous ulcer may include trauma, poor nutritional stress, vitamin deficiency (vit B12) and malabsorption.

Treatment includes application of benzocaine which is the most commonly used anesthetic agent. Other treatment modalities include Bioadhesive "super-glues", such as 2-octyl cyanoacrylate or isobutyl cyanoacrylate (Iso-Dent), mucoadhesive patch and over-the-counter glycyrrhiza (licorice) bioadhesive hydrogel patch.