Mouth Injuries – The Alex

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Mouth Injuries

Mouth injuries are common in children and are often less serious than they look. Even a small cut or puncture wound inside the mouth may bleed a lot because there are many small blood vessels in the head and neck area. Because of their good blood supply injuries in the mouth usually heal very quickly.

What can I do to help my child recover?

• Keep the mouth area as clean as possible by encouraging your child to rinse their mouth out with clean water after eating
• Give your child an ice lolly/ice pole to suck on to soothe the discomfort
• Please give your child regular pain medicine such as paracetamol and/or ibuprofen (refer to the instructions on the bottle/packet regarding doses and frequency)
• Avoid salty, hot or spicy foods for a few days
• If your child has been given a course of antibiotics, please make sure they finish the full course

Things to look out for

If your child experiences any of the following symptoms in the first three days, bring your child back to the Children’s Emergency Department (CED) or the nearest A&E.

Most mouth injuries in children are very minor and heal quickly without complications.

Tooth problems

If your child’s teeth are loose or damaged, you will need to have this assessed by your local dentist. Emergency dentist information can be found below.

Useful numbers

NHS 111 – 24hr advice line