What is the reason for the grinning mouth

The weather is dry in winter and people are prone to lack of some vitamins and trace elements in their bodies. Many people will have dry and flaky lips in winter, and some people will have cracks at the corners of their mouths due to angular cheilitis. In this case, we should usually consider whether it is a viral infection or bacterial factor. It is also caused by a lack of certain elements and the cause needs to be found and treated.

What causes cleft corners of mouth?

The scientific name for cracks at the corners of the mouth is angular cheilitis. Angular cheilitis is actually a type of chronic cheilitis, except that one occurs on the lips and the other occurs at the corners of the mouth. However, the corners of the mouth are more likely to become an "accident-prone area" than the lips. This is because we always have to open our mouths to eat and talk, so the corners of the mouth are always easily pulled and more painful.

Chronic cheilitis is usually caused by non-infectious irritation; angular cheilitis is often associated with infection, and bacteria, viruses, and fungi may all be causative factors. Therefore, we would like to remind you to identify the causative factors of angular cheilitis, because different causative factors require different medications. Using the wrong medicine can have the opposite effect and make angular cheilitis even more difficult to cure.

Most Wanted: Virus

What is viral angular cheilitis? Viruses are not permanent microorganisms in our mouths, but "lurk" in the ganglia. They will escape from the ganglia and cause disease only when our resistance is reduced. Viral angular cheilitis usually causes unilateral cracks at the corners of the mouth. For example, women will experience such cracks at the corners of the mouth when their resistance is low before menstruation every month.

Most Wanted Criminal No. 2: Bacteria

Bacterial angular cheilitis usually only causes cracks on one side of the mouth. Bacteria are everywhere and are "resident bacteria" in our bodies, living on the surface of the skin and mucous membranes. People's oral hygiene conditions are better now than in the past, and for bacteria to cause disease, they must be when the body's resistance is extremely low. Therefore, not many people suffer from bacterial angular cheilitis.

The recovery period for both viral angular cheilitis and bacterial angular cheilitis is very short, and it can be cured in three or four days. The third type, angular cheilitis caused by fungi, is the most difficult to treat and the least easy to cure.

Most Wanted Criminal: Fungus

Fungal angular cheilitis has a long course of disease, and some people always have cracks at the corners of their mouths, which is probably caused by this reason. It takes 2 to 4 weeks of continuous use of antifungal drugs to completely cure the disease. What kind of people are most likely to suffer from this type of angular cheilitis?

1. People with missing teeth

There is a certain height between our upper and lower teeth, which is about 1.5 cm. Including the alveolar bone buried under the teeth, the total distance is 2 cm. If people do not get artificial teeth in time after losing their teeth, the alveolar bone will be absorbed. Combined with the height of the missing teeth, the vertical space in the mouth is suddenly reduced by 2 cm. The result is that the corners of the mouth are sunken and drooping.

We might as well use a banana to compare our mouth. When the corners of the mouth are sunken, the skin around the mouth becomes wrinkled. More bacteria and fungi will be hidden inside, and it can also hide saliva. The result of hiding saliva is that the corners of the mouth become a "wetland", which is more conducive to the growth of fungi.