Mouth Thrush - Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

Thrush is a mouth infection caused by Candida albicans. This fungus is already present in your mouth and digestive tract along with other microorganisms. These microorganisms do not allow the Candida fungus to overgrow and be the cause of harm. However, certain conditions give freedom to the Candida fungus to grow abnormally and cause thrush. For example, if you are under stress or have diabetes, cancer or HIV infection then your body’s vital bacterial balance is disrupted and the resulted imbalance leads to overgrowth of Candida albicans that normally inhabits your body.

Besides these conditions, there are also some medications that help Candida albicans to flourish inside your body such as corticosteroids, birth control pills and antibiotics.

Symptoms of mouth thrush

If you see creamy white, raised lesions in your mouth then it means that you are suffering from thrush. Due to this, you may also experience pain in your mouth. You may also notice blood while brushing your teeth. Later, these lesions may spread into your oesophagus or gullet. Other symptoms which you may experience due to mouth thrush are fever and difficulty in swallowing. In rare cases, thrush can affect different organs of the body such as liver, lungs and skin.

Diagnosis of mouth thrush

If you suspect that you may be suffering from thrush and experience pain in your mouth, visit a dentist as soon as possible. He or she will examine your mouth area and will do a complete analysis of your condition. He or she may ask you to have a mouth swab test. If you have the fungal overgrowth in your oesophagus then you may be required to undergo other tests. Your dentist may ask you to undergo endoscopy and may collect a sample for a throat culture.

In case if you have mouth thrush then you may develop white lesions on your mouth, tongue or cheeks.

Treatment of mouth thrush

If you have a weak immune system then the symptoms of mouth thrush may appear in a more severe form and may pose problem for your dentist to treat your condition effectively. Your dentist may prescribe anti-fungal medications to treat your condition. He or she will consider your age and the cause of infection before prescribing any medications as your recovery is dependent on these two factors.

Ways to prevent mouth thrush

You can definitely prevent the development of the painful thrush infection by taking care of small yet important things. You should make a habit of brushing your teeth two times a day. You should not use mouthwashes as these are powerful enough to disrupt the normal balance of bacteria in your mouth. You should pay a regular visit to your dentist to have your mouth examined. You should exclude foods from your diet that support the growth of Candida albicans such as beer, bread and wine. It would be good if you reduce the intake of sugar and yeast containing foods. You should quit smoking as smoking is one of the most common causes of mouth thrush.