Playoff game snack gorging linked to rise in mouth burns
Last Updated: Friday, May 2, 2008 | 5:16 PM ET
CBC News
A Montreal dentist says he has seen a growing number of patients with mouth burns that may be caused by excessive consumption of salt and vinegar chips.
Dr. David Matthew told CBC News the increase may be due to people overindulging in vinegary potato chips during the NHL playoffs.
"We've had a couple of cases lately, of burns like this — and in one case, the patient really didn't know what caused it," he said.
"That's why we were suspicious of perhaps the potato chips, because that's going to [cause] more of a delayed reaction. It's not something you're going to notice right away."
Salt and vinegar chips are coated with powdered vinegar that, when mixed with saliva, creates a very acidic environment in the mouth, he said.
"When the powdered vinegar dissolves in your saliva, it creates a pH of about 4.5. Normally a neutral pH is around 7. So when you get down to the 4.5 range, that's quite acidic," he explained.
"If you're eating these chips on a continuous basis for maybe 20 minutes or so, you're building up quite a pool of acid in your mouth, which could burn any tissues in your mouth."
As few as 20 chips can cause a reaction, depending on how much saliva a person produces naturally, Matthew said.
The burns may be visible, showing up as red marks on the inner cheek tissues or tongue.
A person would feel the burn especially while eating other acidic foods or drink such as orange juice.
Matthew said he usually sees patients with food-related mouth burns a few times a year — but in the last few weeks he's had a handful of patients come in with mouth lesions.
Gargling with salt and warm water will help alleviate the symptoms, and laying off the chips will solve the problem, he said.
