The following symptoms and complaints may occur together with oral ulcer (mouth ulcer):
Leading symptom
- Mouth ulcer (mouth ulcer); color: yellow or gray-white.
Associated symptoms
- Mucosal pallor
- White cheek coating
- Bleeding gums
Typical locations are:
- Inside of cheeks and lips
- Tongue surface
- Palate (lat. palatum; roof of the oral cavity and floor of the nasal cavity).
- Gums (lat. gingiva)
- Throat / pharynx (lat. pharynx)
Warning signs (red flags)
- Single persistent (“persisting”) ulcer (often painless!) + smoker → think: malignant neoplasm.
- White cheek coating + ulcers usually multiple occurring + diabetes mellitus or immunodeficiency (immune deficiency) → think of: oral candidiasis (synonyms: candidamycosis, candidomycosis, candidasis, candidosis).
- Mucosal pallor + ulcers usually multiple occurring → think of: Iron deficiency anemia (anemia due to iron deficiency).
- Diarrhea (diarrhea) + abdominal discomfort (abdominal pain) → think of: inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), eg Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis.
- Recurrent (recurrent) + ulcers usually multiple occurring → think of: typical of aphthae.
