Copyright People’s Pharmacy

Q: When I was a kid, I used to get horrible canker sores.  My mother treated them with silver nitrate, which hurt like heck.  After my braces came off, I took better care of my teeth and brushed more frequently.  I didn’t have as many canker sores and thought it was because of the brushing.  When I hit menopause though, the canker sores were back with a vengeance.  Doctors didn’t have any suggestions, but I read in your column that toothpaste without sodium lauryl sulfate might help.  I tried it, and it did reduce the canker sores, but I never liked the toothpaste I was using.  It had no fluoride, and it didn’t foam.  My daughter and I went to Europe a few years ago.  We traveled lightly and I figured I would use her toothpaste.  I got a canker sore right away, but when we were in Paris, our hotel was down the street from a pharmacy.  There I found a toothpaste with fluoride but no SLS.  It worked perfectly to clean my teeth without causing canker sores.  When we got home, I checked online and found it.  It’s called Elmex Sensitive Toothpaste.

A: Many readers have reported that toothpaste containing SLS triggers their canker sores.  A systematic review of the medical literature concludes that people with frequent mouth sores “may benefit from using SLS-free dentifrices for their daily oral care” (Journal of Oral Pathology & Medicine, May 2019).