Maybe you’ve seen some white and red patches near your mouth, or maybe some cracking. This is a symptom and sign of an infection commonly known as oral thrush. This is caused by too much candida within the mouth, but it’s not as scary as you think it is. In most cases, it’s something that can be fixed with anti-fungal meds, and it’s something that the dentist and physician can help with this. 

Signs and Symptoms 

This is something that happens usually on the inner parts of the cheeks, the tongue, and the roof of the mouth, and if you have an overgrowth of this, it leads to infection. 

This can also include the following: 

• Cracking and itchiness along the mouth corners 
• White patches along the inner part of the mouth, or throughout your mouth 

This is something that’s usually called cheilosis or cheilitis, and the burning and infection may also give some white patches that come with the redness and cracking. 

If you notice the white patches extending further downwards towards the throat, it can impact the swallowing capabilities. For infants with oral thrush, they may have trouble with breastfeeding, and may become irritable or fussy. 

The cause of this 

This is due to a fungi.  While not al fungi such as yeasts are bad, candida is something that’s found within the digestive system or on the skin of around 45% of people who are healthy. 

This fungi normally doesn’t create problems, and it grows in wet, moist areas, such as the mouth.  That’s why you’re mor likely to develop this infection there. 

The common causes of this usually are as follows: 

• Dentures that are not fitting right, or unclean 
• Smoking 
• Licking or rubbing the mouth corners too much 
• Using an inhaler that’s got corticosteroids in it 
• High-=sugar diets 
• Dry mouth that’s chronic 
• Diabetes and other major health conditions. 

Usually, fungal infections appear as well in those people who have immune systems that are weakened. These include the following: 

• Infants 
• Those who are recently or currently using antibiotics 
• Those with poor nutrition 
• People who have leukemia, HIV, diabetes, and other compromised immunity problems 

The treatment 

The treatment for this is usually a n ointment that can help with the reddening of the lips. Your dentist or PCP may also want to help with this. If you need more treatments for lip cracking, there are lozenges and mouth washes that ca help to clear this up. 

If you have an infection that’s severe, you might need medications to help mitigate the presence of the yeast. The fungus treatment usually lasts up to 2 weeks, and in some moderate infections, it usually can be twice as long. For severe ones, it can be well over a month before things clear up. There are also treatments for those with a weakened immune system, such as different medications to prevent this initially from happening any more. 

For those with lip fungus, you do need to brush and floss. The best way to prevent this from happening is, for those with dentures, make sure that they are cleaned up, and fit correctly. If you’re someone who licks and rubs their mouth corners, stop doing that. You also want to brush and floss a lot too. 

Finally, you should quit smoking especially if it’s due to this, since it can dry out these areas, and cause a variety of health problems.  Remember to talk to the dentist right away, since early treatment does mitigate severe infections in people.