Child Health Advice: Mouth
These guidelines (topics) are intended to help you determine how sick your child is and if you need to call your child's doctor. Their second purpose is to help you treat your child at home when it is safe to do so.
IMPORTANT! Your doctor's advice and your good judgment should always take precedence over information in these guidelines.
- Asthma Attack
- The classic symptom is a wheeze or whistling (purring) sound on breathing out.
- Cough
- Most are part of a cold, a viral infection of the large airway (viral bronchitis).
- Croup
- The croupy cough is tight, low-pitched, and barky (like a barking seal). The voice or cry is hoarse (laryngitis).
- Dehydration (Drinking Fluids, Decreased)
- Child drinks less than normal amounts of fluid which can lead to dehydration.
- Hand-Foot and Mouth Disease
- Small painful ulcers in the mouth. Small, thick-walled water blisters or red spots located on the palms, soles, and webs between the fingers and toes.
- Mouth Injury
- Injuries to the lip, flap under the upper lip, tongue, inner cheeks, floor of the mouth, roof of the mouth, or back of the mouth.
- Mouth Ulcers (Canker Sores)
- The main cause of mouth ulcers is the common canker sore.
- Sore Throat
- Most sore throats are part of a cold. Of severe sore throats, about 20% are caused by the Strep bacteria.
- Spitting Up (Reflux)
- Poor closure of the valve at the upper end of the stomach. More than half of all infants have occasional spitting up.
- Strep Exposure
- Close contact with strep means the child lives in a home where a sibling, parent or other household member has a throat culture or rapid-strep test that is positive for strep throat.
- Teething
- Main symptoms are increased saliva, drooling and desire to chew on things.
- Thrush
- White, irregularly shaped patches in the mouth. Coats the inside cheeks or inner lips. Sometimes coats the tongue.
- Tooth Injury
- Loosened tooth - may bleed a little from the gums. Displaced tooth (usually pushed inward).
- Toothache
- Pain or discomfort in a tooth.
- Vomiting
- The forceful emptying (throwing up) of a large portion of the stomach's contents through the mouth.
- Wheezing
- A high-pitched purring or whistling sound produced during breathing out.