In a healthy mouth, the tissues are pink, firm and moist. If you have a healthy mouth, your breath will smell pleasant or neutral. Healthy gums are firm and pink, not red or white. They are not swollen or sore.
Your soft palate or velum sits toward the back of your mouth behind the hard palate. It has a soft and fleshy texture and feels somewhat smooth. For some, a healthy palate appears reddish pink. For others, the color may look a shade of brown or black.
When healthy, the lining of the mouth (oral mucosa) ranges in color from reddish pink to gradations of brown or black. The oral mucosa tends to be darker in dark-skinned individuals because their melanocytes (cells that produce melanin, a pigment that gives hair, skin, and eyes their color) are more active.
For example, your soft palate (the back of the roof of your mouth) and uvula move backward when you swallow. This prevents food and liquid from going up your nose. And in many languages, such as German and French, your uvula helps you form certain sounds. Your uvula is also part of your gag reflex.
There are tiny bumps on the inside corners of your mouth that are normal. As are the tiny bumps that often appear on the outside of your lips. These are not harmful, and are normal for nearly everyone. Bumps that appear when you lift up your tongue are often normal, as well.
Some of the most common diseases that impact our oral health include cavities (tooth decay), gum (periodontal) disease, and oral cancer. More than 40% of adults report having felt pain in their mouth within the last year, and more than 80% of people will have had at least one cavity by age 34.
Use your finger to pull out your cheek so that they can see inside. Look for red, white or dark patches. Then place your index finger inside your cheek, with your opposing thumb on the outside gently squeeze and roll the cheek to check for any lumps, tenderness or ulcers, repeat this action on the other cheek.
Leukoplakia appears as thick, white patches on the inside surfaces of your mouth. It has a number of possible causes, including repeated injury or irritation. It can also be a sign of precancerous changes in the mouth or mouth cancer.
Tonsil stones form when bacteria and debris get stuck in those gaps and harden. Tonsil stones look like white or yellow pebbles on your tonsils. They can cause bad breath, a sore throat, a bad taste in your mouth, and ear pain. Or they may not cause any symptoms.
Visual inspection with a penlight shows a healthy palate as whitish in color, with a firm texture and irregular transverse rugae. Abnormal findings include yellowness or extreme pallor, and diseases include torus palatinus, cleft palate, submucous cleft palate, High-arched palate, Kaposi's sarcoma and leukoplakia.
Oral candidiasis.
Also known as oral thrush, candidiasis is a yeast infection that can affect the cheeks, throat, palate, and tongue. It typically appears as a white or yellowish patch and can cause soreness and loss of taste.
A white film in the mouth is typically called oral thrush—a fungal infection that develops on the tongue and roof of the mouth, but can also start in the throat and spread to other parts of the body. This condition is due to an overgrowth of the Candida fungus—a naturally occurring yeast.
Symptoms of Oral STDs
Lesions similar to cold sores and fever blisters around the mouth. Sore throat and difficulty swallowing. Redness with white spots resembling strep throat. Swollen tonsils and/or lymph nodes.
Swelling. Any swelling in the gums is a red flag for infection. If it is a small pimple-like swelling on the gums, you likely have an abscess from a tooth. Swelling around multiple teeth where the gums meet the teeth is a sign of inflammatory gum disease.
If your gums are very irritated, you may notice they can actually start to bleed. This is a red flag that all is not well in your mouth. It may happen when you brush or floss your teeth. In more severe cases your gums can bleed from simply chewing food.
Sensitivity to Hot and Cold Foods and Drinks
In addition to the pain it causes, sensitivity is also a sign of an unhealthy mouth. Factors like brushing too hard, overuse of acidic beverages like soda and coffee, and excessive use of whitening products all expose tiny canals that lead right to your dental nerves.
Poor oral hygiene manifests in a number of different forms. From bleeding or swelling gums to toothaches, growths in the mouth and alterations to the tongue's surface, poor oral hygiene has plenty of forms. Some patients exhibit several common indications of poor oral hygiene.
"There are two basic ways that oral cancers present in the mouth — as white patches or red patches," says Dr. Kain. "Red patches are a bit more concerning than white patches, but either needs to be evaluated if it doesn't go away after several weeks."
Is it normal to have lumps inside your mouth? To some degree, yes. There are lumps beneath your tongue that are actually salivary glands, plus there are small lumps in other areas of your mouth that are totally normal.
Generally, the bumps look red, irritated, or inflamed and have a pebble-like appearance. Other symptoms usually depend on what's causing cobblestone throat, which include: Persistent dry cough. Hoarseness.