{"id":3240,"date":"2026-01-06T10:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T10:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/?p=3240"},"modified":"2026-01-17T12:28:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:28:44","slug":"how-do-i-know-if-i-have-oral-thrush-understanding-its-causes-and-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/how-do-i-know-if-i-have-oral-thrush-understanding-its-causes-and-symptoms\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do I Know If I Have Oral Thrush? Understanding Its Causes And Symptoms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oral thrush, also called oral candidiasis or oropharyngeal candidiasis is a mouth condition that is caused by a fungal or yeast infection. It occurs when a fungus called Candida albicans accumulates in your mouth. It appears as creamy white patches on your tongue, the lining of your mouth or inside your cheeks. It usually happens to people with low immune systems, especially people with HIV and leukaemia. Its symptoms include loss of taste, a cottony feeling in your mouth, redness, sores, and difficulty swallowing. This blog will explain the causes of oral thrush and its symptoms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What Are The Causes Of Oral Thrush?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Immune system weakness:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> A healthy immune system keeps the Candida albicans fungus stabilised, but if the immune system is not strong due to conditions such as chemotherapy or HIV, it excessively grows, causing oral thrush.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The use of Corticosteroids causes oral thrush: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inhaled steroids for conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and asthma increase the development of oral thrush.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The use of certain medication: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The use of medication such as antibiotics can kill the bacteria that monitor candida fungus, then increases the growth of candida albicans, leading to oral thrush.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The use of dentures: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using dentures can increase the growth of fungus that causes oral thrush if they are poorly cleaned or not the right size.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Age also contributes to oral thrush development: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oral thrush is common in infants and elderly people because their immune system is not yet fully developed, and also due to immune system strength depreciation due to age.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Diabetes patients:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Higher sugar levels in saliva can create an environment that allows Candida to grow, which ends up causing oral thrush.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The conditions that cause dry mouth: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The conditions that cause dry mouth, such as Xerotomia, cause a lack of sufficient saliva, which allows the growth of fungus that causes oral thrush.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Smoking: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smoking also contributes to the development of oral thrush.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What Are The Symptoms Of Oral Thrush?<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Loss of taste: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oral thrush leads to taste loss in food or a bitter taste of saliva.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Having difficulty in swallowing or eating: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If oral thrush spreads severely in the mouth or the throat, it causes difficulties in eating and swallowing because of the pain.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Dry mouth feeling:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Oral thrush may lead to the loss of saliva, causing a dry mouth that feels uncomfortable.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Painful sores: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oral thrush can cause painful red sores that cause intense pain, with a burning sensation and discomfort.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Bleeding:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If the white patches or red sores are scraped, even by a toothbrush during brushing, they may start bleeding.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>White patches: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">White patches on your tongue, inner cheeks, or the lining of your lips are a sign of oral thrush.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oral thrush is a condition that is treatable with oral rinses and anti-fungal medicines. It\u00a0 is very common in immunosuppressed people, such as infants and the elderly. But timely medical treatment helps in better treatment before it spreads too much and starts causing bleeding. As soon as you start seeing oral thrush symptoms like white patches, red sores, a bitter saliva taste or when everything becomes tasteless, get immediate help. If you care about your dental health, book an appointment with our specialist, <\/span><b>Dr Priya Verma<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, at<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/\"><b> Smile Zone Dental Clinic<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for a healthy smile.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>FAQs<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Q1: Can oral thrush be treated easily?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A: Oral thrush can easily be treated with anti-fungal medication and oral rinse mouth washes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Q2: Is oral thrush contagious?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A: Yes, oral thrush is contagious because it is caused by a fungal infection that can be passed from one person to another through kissing or breastfeeding.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oral thrush, also called oral candidiasis or oropharyngeal candidiasis is a mouth condition that is caused by a fungal or yeast infection. It occurs when a fungus called Candida albicans accumulates in your mouth. It appears as creamy white patches on your tongue, the lining of your mouth or inside your cheeks. It usually happens [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oral-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3241,"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3240\/revisions\/3241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dentalclinicinwhitefield.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}