Management of Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis
Summary
Recurrent aphthous stomatitis is a chronic oral mucosal disorder characterised by periodic, painful ulcerations that impair nutrition, speech and quality of life. Management strategies focus on symptomatic relief, acceleration of healing and reduction of recurrence frequency. First‐line therapy often involves topical anti‐inflammatory agents such as corticosteroid gels and barrier‐forming formulations to protect lesions from mechanical and salivary irritation. For extensive or persistent outbreaks, systemic interventions—ranging from short‐course oral corticosteroids to immunomodulatory regimens—are considered, taking into account patient comorbidities and risk profiles. Adjunctive measures include correction of nutritional deficiencies (for example, vitamin B12 and folate), stress management and avoidance of known triggers. Emerging modalities such as low‐level laser therapy and novel bioadhesive hydrogels aim to combine targeted anti‐inflammatory and antimicrobial actions with sustained local drug delivery. A tailored, stepwise approach guided by lesion severity, patient tolerance and response to prior therapies underpins current clinical practice.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Management of Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in management of recurrent aphthous stomatitis across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Recurrent aphthous stomatitis: Chronic oral mucosal condition marked by recurrent, painful ulcers of unclear multifactorial aetiology.
Topical corticosteroids: Anti‐inflammatory formulations applied directly to lesions to reduce ulceration and pain.
Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT): Photobiomodulation technique using low-intensity laser light to promote tissue repair and analgesia.
Barrier‐forming hydrogel: Bioadhesive matrix designed to protect ulcers from mechanical irritation and prolong local drug action.
Vitamin D deficiency: Insufficient serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels that may contribute to mucosal immunity imbalance and lesion recurrence.
References
- Vitamin D deficiency and risk of recurrent aphthous stomatitis: updated meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis. Frontiers in Nutrition (2023).
- Effectiveness of low-level laser therapy in reducing pain score and healing time of recurrent aphthous stomatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Systematic Reviews (2024).
- α-Mangostin hydrogel film with chitosan alginate base for recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) treatment: study protocol for double-blind randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Pharmacology (2024).
- Treatment of recurrent aphthous stomatitis. A literature review. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dentistry (2014).
- Treatment of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS; aphthae; canker sores) with a barrier forming mouth rinse or topical gel formulation containing hyaluronic acid: a retrospective clinical study. BMC Oral Health (2019).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.