Ouch!! Did you just get a pizza burn?

Written by Dr. Apurva Chavan

Medically reviewed by  Dr. Vidhi Bhanushali Kabade BDS, TCC

Last updated Dec 5, 2023

Written by Dr. Apurva Chavan

Medically reviewed by  Dr. Vidhi Bhanushali Kabade BDS, TCC

Last updated Dec 5, 2023

A pizza is one the best of the unhealthy but oh so delicious dishes to eat. One can rarely resist biting into a piping hot slice of your favorite pizza. So let’s be honest – all of us have had a pizza burn at least once. 

Eating pizza can hurt your oral health

Don’t be a fool, Let your pizza cool!

Fats like oil, butter, and cheese hold heat for a longer period of time than carbohydrates like bread. The palate or the roof of your mouth is a very sensitive structure meant to help you taste and understand hot and cold sensations and enjoy your food.

So when the steaming hot top cheesy layer of pizza touches the soft and delicate part of your palate you get a pizza burn. Some people may also experience numbness in that area for a few days.

Home remedies for a pizza burn

Usually, pizza burns are first degree burns and can be taken care of at home –

  • Suck on ice cubes or chips to get instant relief. Have cold water if ice cubes aren’t available
  • Chilled milk will also give you instant relief.
  • Honey and ghee will coat the region and reduce irritation.
  • Plain ice creams without nuts or crispy toppings will also soothe the region.
  • Have soft food like rice-khichdi, yogurt, pudding, rice, milkshakes, curd-rice, etc.
  • Avoid acidic juices like lemon, orange, and tomato and strong spices like cinnamon and cloves to avoid irritation.
  • Avoid hot, crispy, and spicy foods for a couple of days.
  • Warm salt water rinses will help with the healing
  • If you use aloe Vera gel make sure it is of the food-grade and the edible variety to avoid further complications.
  • If the burn is still hurting painkillers like ibuprofen can be taken or topical gels with a local anesthetic can be applied for pain relief.
  • Do not keep touching the healing region with your tongue or try to remove the scabs. This will only delay your healing.

If you have pain even a week after the burn or develop a blister, ulcer, or even a pus-filled swelling and have fever immediately seek medical help or call your dentist.

Highlights

  • Eating a hot pizza could burn the roof of your mouth. The melted cheese sticks to the roof of your mouth burning your sift tissues. Hence always allow the pizza to cool a little before taking the bite.
  • You could feel loss of sensation in that area for around a week or two.
  • You can try the above home remedies to cure the pizza burn and allow it to heal on its own.
  • For faster relief you can tele consult your dentist for a gel instead of visiting your dentist.
  • If you experience any ulcers or water filled blisters immediately let your dentist know about it.
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scanO (formerly DentalDost)

Stay Informed, Smile On!


Author Bio: Dr. Apurva Chavan is a dentist by the day and a voracious reader and writer by the night. She loves to fix smiles and tries to keep all her procedures as pain free as possible. Equipped with over 5 years of experience she loves to not just treat her patients but also educate them about dental hygiene and appropriate maintanence routines. After a long day of preserving smiles she loves to curl up with a good book or pen down some of life’s musings. She strongly belives that learning never stops and likes to keep her self updates with all the latest dental news and research.

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