Why Does Mouthwash Make My Skin Peel
It’s a question we hear all the time, and it’s a pretty good one! If you’ve ever experienced this strange phenomenon, we’re here to help.
Mouthwash is designed to clean your mouth and kill bacteria. The alcohol in mouthwash acts as an antiseptic, killing the bad stuff that makes your breath smell bad or causes gum disease. But it also has another effect on your body, which is what causes all that peeling skin.
Mouthwash dries out your mouth, which can make you feel like your lips are peeling off or cracking—and that can be painful! The same thing happens when you drink a lot of alcohol: You feel dehydrated and your lips start to flake off because they’ve lost their natural moisture. This is why some people have dry lips after drinking too much beer or wine, even if they don’t have hangovers—it’s just part of the process!
In this article, we’ll consider how to get rid of dead skin inside cheeks and why is the inside of my cheek peeling.
Why Does Mouthwash Make My Skin Peel
Do you notice oral tissue sloughing or peeling skin in your mouth? Any time we see skin inside of the mouth peeling, we usually need to use a process of elimination to figure out what’s causing it. Areas like your lips, roof of mouth, or inside cheek peeling can be due to anything from active ingredients (SLS) in toothpaste to allergic reactions to undiagnosed diseases. Some are more common than you might expect. Once you start paying a little more attention to what you’re putting on your teeth, gums, and other warning signs, it’s a lot easier to figure out why you have skin peeling inside the mouth.
Harsh oral hygiene products can often lead to skin peeling inside the mouth. The chemicals found in toothpaste, mouthwashes, and other oral care products can irritate the delicate tissues in the mouth, resulting in peeling. To prevent this issue, it is important to use gentle, alcohol-free mouthwash and toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive mouths. By choosing products that are formulated to be gentle on the oral tissues, you can maintain good oral hygiene without causing irritation or peeling.
What Causes Tissue Sloughing In The Mouth?
One of the top causes of inside cheek peeling is “SLS” or sodium lauryl sulfate. SLS is a common ingredient in a lot of toothpaste blends because of the way it helps hold all of the other ingredients together. SLS also causes a foaming action, which makes some toothpastes a bit more bubbly and foamy than others. On a microscopic level, SLS is also an irritant. Some people are more sensitive to certain irritants than others, with SLS being one of the top offenders.
People who tend to have sensitive skin or react to SLS usually see inside of mouth peeling after a while. Not necessarily if they’re using general products that contain SLS, but if they’re putting it in their mouth in the form of toothpaste.
SLS isn’t the only cause of skin peeling inside the mouth, but it is one of the very first things your dentist or hygienist will ask about if you’re complaining of sloughing skin. Generally, oral mucosal peeling can be anywhere like the inside of your lips or cheeks. Whereas other types of skin peeling may only be in certain areas of your mouth.
How To Get Rid Of Dead Skin Inside Cheeks
1) You’re using toothpaste
SLS is an active component in popular toothpaste products like Crest, Colgate, AquaFresh, and Pepsodent. However, that does not imply that every combination of their products does. You can still read the labels to identify certain products that don’t contain SLS. Although Sensodyne is advised for those with sensitive tongues, it normally doesn’t contain SLS.
Stop using that toothpaste and switch to one without SLS to determine, with the least amount of effort, if the ingredient is the one causing skin peeling inside the mouth. Examine your mouth a few weeks later to see whether anything has changed. If it is, it’s likely sodium lauryl sulfate. If it’s not, you’ll need to conduct some additional investigation.
2) Food Sensitivities
Your mouth’s mucous membranes can get irritated. Sometimes, as people age, they develop food allergies. Although food allergies usually don’t make your skin peel, they might nevertheless result in redness and dry spots that resemble eczema. Furthermore, typical is a rash around your mouth and face.
Seafood, shellfish, peanuts, and tree nuts are some of the foods that people grow allergic to most frequently as they age, according to the Mayo Clinic. A mild allergic reaction may only affect the inside of your mouth when food comes into touch with your lips and cheeks, unlike severe food allergies that can result in anaphylaxis.
Oral Trauma No. 3
How many pizza slices have you ever burned in your mouth? That occurs more frequently than you probably realized. Food burns typically occur in the roof of the mouth, where hot, gooey cheese sticks to your palate. The skin there starts to peel after a few days.
Another oral injury occurs when a tortilla chip pokes or cuts the inside of your mouth. No, this is not a fabrication. We see it all the time in the dentist office. There will typically be some peeling as your gums begin to recover in those locations.
These are but a few instances of oral trauma. Sports-related mishaps, automobile accidents, and other injuries may also be to fault.
No. 4 Oral Thrush
A specific kind of yeast infection is thrush, sometimes known as “candidiasis”. Those who take a lot of antibiotics, have impaired immune systems, or have unidentified systemic diseases are more likely to experience it. If you know you’re going to be taking antibiotics, it can be good to eat yogurt or take dental probiotics to lower your chances of developing oral thrush. This advice also applies to those who are receiving cancer treatment or have impaired immune systems. Topical steroid creams or other prescription medications from your dentist or primary care provider can be used to treat chronic oral thrush.
Save up to 28% off Burst Dental Probiotic Supplements when you try them!
White residue that may be removed from a typical thrush eruption will reveal red, raw skin underneath. It could be in your cheeks or even in the roof of your mouth.
When oral appliances like partials and dentures aren’t cleaned properly, thrush can also be noticed there.
5) Your cheeks are being bit.
Some people have a propensity to clench and bite their teeth so hard that they accidentally catch the inside of their cheeks. Our mouths might get roughed up like calluses where irritation is constant. Where your teeth meet in your cheek, you could notice a straight line of peeling skin. Based on the biting edges of your smile, there may even be a scalloped form to it in some instances.
The habit of biting one’s cheeks can result from stress or mental strain. Most likely, you don’t even recognize that you’re doing it. You might need to deal with whatever it is that you’re concentrating on or worrying about first!
Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (no. 6)
The skin blisters, dies, and peels off as a result of this extremely unusual skin condition. It spreads swiftly and is quite painful. Usually, a medicine will cause a reaction in someone with SJS, triggering their symptoms. The skin condition frequently includes flu-like symptoms in addition to skin peeling. The reaction will start to recover within a few days.
The areas of your face and chest that experience skin peeling the most frequently if you have SJS. Also known as “toxic epidermal necrolysis,” The good news is that because it is an autoimmune condition, it is not communicable.
Oral keratosis (#7)
Do you recall the above-mentioned cheek-biting? In essence, it is oral keratosis. Yet there are other factors, besides cheek-biting, that might lead to keratosis. Anytime something is repeatedly pressing on the inside of your mouth, you will notice it. The use of orthodontic appliances is a prime example. The inside of your lips and cheeks will initially be quite sensitive to the brackets, but with continued use, they will become more resistant.
If you bite your tongue or clench your teeth as you sleep at night, you may also see keratosis on the sides of your tongue.
Your dentist will wish to alter your keratosis to remove the irritating edge if something like a temporary dental crown or a rough margin on a filling is to blame.
Why Is The Inside Of My Cheek Peeling
Drinking hot liquids is the primary cause of mucosal peeling and is also the most typical cause. Every time you drink or eat something hot, a small piece of the mucosa will peel off. These thermal burns may develop into ulcers if hot foods are consumed often.
Chemicals are the second cause of the inside of your mouth peeling. The numerous substances found in alcohol and drugs frequently cause peeling. The main contributor to mucosal injury is a class of medications called aspirin. Peeling can also result from unintentionally ingesting certain chemicals and caustic goods.
It’s also possible that you have an autoimmune disorder. These illnesses frequently manifest when the body’s immune system is overactive. Peeling of the mucosa is a symptom of some autoimmune disorders. Yet occasionally, after a while, the inside of the mouth starts to peel spontaneously. In certain circumstances, it happens on its own and is painless.
What To Do If The Inside Of Your Mouth Is Peeling?
Do you need to call a dentist about skin peeling inside the mouth? Not if it’s something isolated and temporary, like a pizza burn. But if something in your mouth is hurting you—like a filling or braces—you’ll definitely want to have your dentist adjust it to eliminate the irritant at the source.
For chronic peeling skin that doesn’t respond to changing up your toothpastes, be sure to bring the issue up to your dentist at your checkup. It’s best to be on the safe side. Although peeling skin may not be anything serious, it’s important to rule out oral cancer or autoimmune diseases that you might not know you have. Yes – your dentist knows how to screen for those symptoms too!
How To Prevent It
Most inside cheek peelings can be avoided by changing your toothpaste. Pick a brand that doesn’t have sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) such as Sensodyne or something similar. Use it every day for two weeks—which is usually all the time your mouth needs to heal—and then see if there’s a difference. If your oral mucosal peeling improved, then you likely have an SLS sensitivity.
Any time you’re about to take antibiotics, make sure you’re getting good bacteria in your diet. Such as yogurt or a yogurt-based live culture drink. Taking them alongside your prescription can help you reduce your chances of getting oral thrush, as will improved oral hygiene! Denture wearers: be sure you’re removing your prosthesis each night and cleaning it (and your mouth) effectively.
When To Talk To A Dentist
Dentists are doctors of the mouth. They’re trained in oral and systemic pathology, not just teeth! If you have skin peeling inside the mouth, a dentist is one of your best health resources.
If you aren’t already, make sure you’re seeing your dentist every six months for a checkup. But if you’re experiencing a one-off flareup of skin peeling in your lips and cheeks, ask for a limited exam. This brief evaluation will give you time to discuss a specific problem with your dentist, have them evaluate it, and run any tests if needed. Sometimes the peace of mind is all you need!
