Minor Mouth Injury: How to Care for Your Child

Cuts in the mouth usually heal on their own in 3–5 days. Diet changes and keeping the area clean can help keep your child more comfortable while the wound gets better.

• For bleeding, put slight pressure on the injury with a cloth or gauze, if you can.

• For kids 12 months and older, ice pops can help with pain or stop mild bleeding.

• Remind your child to not pick or chew at any scabs that form.

• If your child is uncomfortable, a medicine may help. Use these medicines exactly as directed:

  • acetaminophen (such as Tylenol® or a store brand) OR

  • ibuprofen (such as Advil®, Motrin®, or a store brand). Don't give to babies under 6 months old.

Diet, for 3–5 days:

• Encourage your child to drink. It's OK if your child doesn't want to eat as much as usual.

• Offer soft foods like oatmeal, mashed potatoes, or applesauce.

• Avoid: 

  • crunchy foods that scratch or make crumbs (like crackers or pretzels)

  • salty, spicy, or citrus foods that sting the cut (like tomato sauce and oranges)

• Help your child drink from a cup. Take a break from using straws, thumb-sucking, or using a pacifier. Sucking can make the cut bleed more.

• Babies can continue to breastfeed or drink from a bottle. Afterward, you might notice minor bleeding, which should stop after a minute or two. For babies older than 12 months, offer an ice pop to help stop the bleeding. 

Keep the mouth clean:

• Give your child sips of water after snacks and meals. 

• If your child is old enough to rinse and spit, add a small amount of salt to the water (½ tsp. salt in 1 cup water) and rinse after eating. The saltwater can soothe the cut.

• Brush the teeth as usual. Help your child avoid the area around the cut.

• The wound is not better in 5 days.

• The wound or the area around it is red, swollen, or very tender or painful.

• Pus (yellow-green fluid) drains from the wound.

• Your child has a fever.

• Your child can't drink.

• The cut bleeds and doesn't stop with 10 minutes of putting pressure on it or having your child suck on ice pops or ice chips.

• Your child isn't drinking at all or seems to be dehydrated.

Why do mouth cuts bleed so much? Cuts in the mouth bleed a lot because there are so many blood vessels. This bleeding doesn't mean the cut is bad. In fact, most mouth cuts heal on their own and almost never need to be fixed with stitches.  

How does a mouth cut heal? As the cut heals, it may ooze a small amount of bloody or clear fluid. This fluid dries to form a scab that looks white. After a few days the scab will fall off.