mouth abrasion

[chronicchewer]

Hi doctor...

My job has been very stressful and over the last three years and has caused me much unwanted stress. During this time I have been biting the insides of my cheeks (knowingly and unknowingly). Days will go where I stop, then once they start to heal and scar tissue appears, I start to chew again. It seems to be a never ending cycle. I also get the occasional canker sore at the bottom inside lip from chewing, but that usually happens 2x a year. I tend to look in the mirror to see what damage has been done and noticed certain areas looks similar to oral lichen planus, but not as "severe" as internet pictures show. Is it leukoplakia? On the days I stop biting, I see a bit of skin that reappears which again looks like scar tissue healing? Sometimes I also notice a white line across my mouth where the teeth meet. Is it possible I am biting while sleeping? I go to the dentist once every 6 months and he hasn't noticed anything unusual. I also see my MD for blood work every year and everything is perfect. In addition, I also get a pin like dot on the side of my tongue usually once every 2 months or when I eat sharp foods or when I am menstruating -I am assuming this is a canker sore as well. (It hurts even more so because my tooth rubs against it) Should I be concerned? Ive also been using a new mouth wash without alcohol and now the insides of my cheeks seem very smooth with little abrasion at all. Should I be worried or am I just being overly paranoid by reading symptoms of various diseases on the internet? Thanks for your time. Thanks!

[chronicchewer]

Thanks for the help. It's been a full week of no chewing and my mouth is absolutely fine - perfect in fact. Again..thank you!

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

A very common cause of whitening of the insides of the mouth is biting.  Many people don't realize they're doing it.  Since you do, the diagnosis is clear.  The changes you see from biting or other trauma look white, but that doesn't make them leukoplakia.  You should continue to have your dentist check you regularly.  You should also look into behavior modification techniques (some psychologists work with them) to help break your habit, which is a hard one to break.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[jte777]

Relax :) I wrote to the doctor about the same thing a year ago. I chewed my cheeks, and this would form white spots here and there and I also had the line that is parallel to where the teeth meet. I also saw the little white spots near the rear of the mouth and to the top which are Fordyce spots, or something like that. If your doctor notices nothing I am real sure you have nothing to worry about. They are trained to look for exactly the problems you are worried about. I thought I had thrush, but when I did not chew it disappeared, haha. Worried myself sick.

I am no doctor by any means, but I am pretty confident that the doctor will be able to put your mind at ease.