Bitten Tongue, Lip or Cheek - How to Treat and Heal It

Have your own teeth turned on your mouth? Sure - everyone's accidentally bitten on their own tongue, on their lip, or their inner cheek before. The results are painful! How do you treat such a self-inflicted bite, and get you on the quick road to recovery? Here are some simple yet very effective suggestions.

1. Get it clean. Wash out your mouth if you've been eating or drinking with clean water, and make sure the wound is clean and free of any debris.
2. Stop any bleeding. If you detect any blood, apply pressure at the wound site. Use gauze if you need to apply external pressure; otherwise you can press your tongue tip to the roof of your mouth (if you bit the tip of your tongue) or on your cheek (if it was your inner cheek that you bit). If the wound is very large/deep or you can't control the bleeding, then seek medical attention immediately.
3. Reduce swelling and inflammation. The spot you bit is likely to be swollen which will make it all the more easy to bite again, aggravating your injury. Apply something cold - ice wrapped in a cloth is best - to the wound site, although not long enough to make the wound hurt more or feel numb. There is such a thing as too much cold - you don't want to get frostbite! - but intermittent application of cool-to-cold should help bring down the swelling.
4. Take a pain reliever, if necessary. Take an over-the-counter pain reliever, like aspirin or ibuprofen, if analgesics don't cause problems for you and the pain is not something easy to ignore.
5. Wash your mouth with warm salt water. Dissolve normal table salt in warm—not hot—water (a tablespoon in a glass is fine) and then swish it in your mouth. This should help suppress any pain and will keep the wound clean while it's healing. Every couple of hours as needed is fine.
6. Avoid aggravating foods and drinks. Avoid drinking hot beverages and ingesting acidic or spicy foods. They will interrupt or even reverse the healing process.
7. Wait. Treat the wound site with tender loving care, avoiding it while eating. Try to not prod around with it with your tongue, as tempting as that may seem. If the pain doesn't subside within 24 hours, if you notice any strange odors coming from the wound, if you develop a fever, or if it resists healing and continues to feel warm from the inflammation more than 48 hours later, then see a dentist or doctor immediately.

Healing times depend. A small bite wound can heal within 2-3 days; a larger one in about a week. The mouth does tend to heal quickly if the wounds are kept clean and not aggravated. Talk to a doctor or dentist if the wound does not start healing rapidly.