Don’t worry, this virus also causes shingles and chicken pox. “Fever blisters” and “cold sores” are a type of ulcer that’s caused by a specific strain of herpes virus. And in the future, always be sure to check the temperature of your food before taking a big bite out of it. If the burn doesn’t heal, ask your dentist to check it for signs of infection. In the meantime, you can ease discomfort by taking an anti-inflammatory such as Motrin as needed. Avoid eating any other hot foods in the meantime (or hot cups of coffee.) Try to choose soft foods, the cooler the better, that won’t irritate your mouth as much when you’re swallowing. You’ll probably notice some tissue sloughing off as the area begins to heal. These soft tissue burns tend to occur closer to the front of your palate and last for several days, causing pain every time you eat or run your tongue across them.
By the time you get it out of your mouth, it’s already been there for a couple of seconds. Any time you bite into something that’s too hot - particularly pizza or something else with melted cheese - it immediately starts to burn the roof of your mouth. Your palate is one of the most common places inside of your mouth to get burned by food. If you wear removable appliances such as an orthodontic retainer, have it evaluated for any irritating edges that need to be smoothed off (do not, I repeat, do not try to smooth out any of your dental appliances at home.) Apply topical numbing products as needed and stick to a soft diet for several days. Regular warm saltwater rinses throughout the day are helpful. Make it a goal to just keep your mouth as clean as possible without physically irritating the ulcer itself. Additionally, acidic foods should be avoided as they tend to irritate the raw ulcerations. Avoid hard or crunchy foods, such as pretzels or tortilla chips. The best treatment for a canker sore is being gentle to it and giving your mouth some time to rest. Ulcers tend to make eating and drinking uncomfortable for the first few days after they flare up. Most of the time canker sores are because of irritation to a specific part of your mouth – like braces rubbing your cheek – or because of stress/illness/etc. It’s not very common to see canker sores on the roof of the mouth, as they tend to pop up in areas like the lips and cheeks more frequently. If inflamed, they may appear raised instead of crater-like.
They tend to be extremely tender, flat, raw-looking or white as they start to heal, or have a slight sunken-in surface. If you do see swelling in your palate, you’ll want to rule out these common causes:Ĭanker sores (also called aphthous ulcers or just plain ol’ “ulcers”) are temporary sores that can form anywhere in your mouth. Yes, you may see swelling if you bite down on your cheek accidentally, but it’s far less common for a traumatic injury to cause a bump on the roof of mouth/palate. But our mouth - and in this case, our palate - typically doesn’t work that way. Our bodies naturally swell or bruise if we bump into something too hard. This reason alone is enough to raise the sound for alarm if you notice a growth or swelling across your palate behind your teeth.Ĭommon Causes of A Bump on the Roof of Mouth The majority of the roof of your mouth is a hard bony structure that is covered by a dense layer of mucosa (tissue), making it far less likely to be prone to swelling or bumps. Typically, these sorts of anomalies do not occur overnight. The roof of your mouth is made up of two parts: a “hard palate” (the firmer texture toward the front of your mouth) and a “soft palate” (softer area toward the back of your throat and tonsils.) Depending on where the sore or bump is in the roof of your mouth, symptoms could indicate varying different medical diagnoses.Īny time you suddenly feel a growth or bump on the roof of your mouth (palate) or the areas around it, it should catch your attention. A quick self-assessment and diagnosis can help you figure out if the growth is something you need to be concerned about. And as with other places on your body, any time you feel a nodule, swelling, or bump (on the roof of the mouth, for instance) it can be a cause for alarm. Small chips, a bump on the roof of your mouth, or even a tiny ulcer under your tongue are easy to pick out from the healthy or “normal” oral tissues around them. Even the tiniest changes are often picked up by your tongue.