# Talk:Aphthous stomatitis

Google hits, 2015 April 10.  "Canker Sore" preferred by > 9 to 1 over aphthous stomatitis.  
Canker sore  2,520,000 results (0.36 seconds) 
Aphthous stomatitis   About 279,000 results (0.32 seconds)
recurrent aphthous stomatitis,  About 128,000 results (0.38 seconds) 
recurring oral aphthae  About 9,870 results (0.31 seconds) 
recurrent oral aphthae  About 28,600 results (0.70 seconds)  (Google's suggestion) 
recurrent aphthous ulceration  About 47,900 results (0.37 seconds) 
Even in medical literature, "canker sore" is preferred
"Canker sore" PMID               About 20,400 results (0.55 seconds)
"Aphthous stomatitis" PMID  About 14,500 results (0.33 seconds)

"Canker sore" is not a medical term, and it is only used in North America. There is an archived thread on this in the past. Matthew Ferguson 57 (talk) 07:33, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

I don't think the North America thing should be removed. It was supported by a source. And many readers will have never heard that term before. Matthew Ferguson 57 (talk) 07:36, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

Not a "medical term"?
This is so people can find information, right?  Whether they already know medical terms or not?  For very many Wikipedia searchers, "canker sore" is the term, and no others are known.  The many North American Wikipedia readers who search "canker sore" and arrive at this article, should not have to read past the "also termed" area to learn that they have landed at the correct article.  

Not a "medical term"?
More articles in PUBMED than, e.g., "recurring oral aphthae."  Latin and medical are not synonyms.  

Not a "medical term"?
Respecting the most common usages, one review begins thus:  

"INTRODUCTION
Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS; Aphthae; Canker sores), a common oral mucosal disorder ...
Niharika Swain, Jigna Pathak, Leela S Poonja, Yogita Penkar
REVIEW ARTICLE 
Etiological Factors of Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis: A Common Perplexity
10.5005/jp-journals-10031-1019 
http://www.jaypeejournals.com/eJournals/ShowText.aspx?ID=4017&Type=FREE&TYP=TOP&IN=_eJournals/images/JPLOGO.gif&IID=315&isPDF=YES 

Some other examples:  

PMID 21977491 Clinical inquiry. What is the most effective way to treat recurrent canker sores? (2011)
PMID 15459950 Adhesive tablet effective for treating canker sores in humans (2004
PMID 8053847 Practice tip. Aphthous ulcers (canker sores) by Murtagh J. in Aust Fam Physician. 1994 Jun;23(6):1129 [note "Australian" Fam Physician]
PMID 1809853 Aphthous stomatitis (canker sores): a consequence of high oral submucosal viscosity (the role of extracellular matrix and the possible role of lectins) (1991)
PMID 6423612  Subjective response to lysine in the therapy of herpes simplex ("The study included subjects with cold sores, canker sores, and genital herpes") (1983)

Bailey J1, McCarthy C, Smith RF.
What is the most effective way to treat recurrent canker sores? 
J Fam Pract. 2011 Oct;60(10):621-32.
Clinical inquiry. 
Abstract
Amlexanox appears to be most effective overall. Amlexanox 5% paste reduces ulcer size, pain duration, and healing time.
PMID 21977491
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Ocdcntx (talk • contribs) 23:30, 12 April 2015

You'll find that virtually all refs using the term canker sore are American. This is not an american encyclopedia but a global one.
when the term is used, it is typically in parentheses after the accepted medical terms, as a colloquialism. It is not a precise term. To some, it appears to include the lesions of herpes simplex, and to others it refers to any oral ulceration, and others still exclusively aphthous ulcers. An American slang term not a precise medical term, which while notable enough to mention in the lead, should not dictate the title of this article. Please review the archived threads of this discussion in the past for more info. Matthew Ferguson 57 (talk) 05:50, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
I agree that the imprecision and regional bias of "canker sore", combined, make it unsuitable for the article title. Sometimes we have a tension between the precision of "lay" (non-professional medical) terms and WP:COMMONNAME; in this case, it's pretty clear that we should go with the term most used in reliable sources, i.e. aphthous stomatitis.  -- Scray (talk) 06:04, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
I find it rather incredulous that you all can sit there and continue to Wikilawyer (or grandstand, more like), using fancy puffed up language, apparently hoping that no one will notice that what you're saying was already proven wrong (about what most reliable sources say). Most reliable sources say canker sore. Or are you using some kind of screwball method of calculation  like subtracting the number of sources that use apatasaurus stomatatanaroseannadanna from the number that use canker sore, and only counting the difference as "reliable sources that use canker sore", in order to claim that a majority use that other mangle of syllables when actually they don't? Or is it just an incorrigable  case of WP:IDHT? Firejuggler86 (talk) 03:12, 9 April 2021 (UTC)
Furthermore, your complaints about canker sore only being common in north America: prithee tell, what is free
the common name outside North America? Does the average layperson (and remember, laypeople are WHO WE ARE WRITING FOR) know what aphtomalous stomalicitis is off the tip of their tongues? have they EVER even HEARD the term? or are they likely to just call it a mouth sore? if America has one common term, and the rest of the English countries have no common term, that doesn't mean we use Latin. Furthermore, there's no policy against article titles only being common in certain countries. there's all kinds of articles with names that only folks in the UK have heard of. And that's fine. If other articles have north American names, that's also fine. Our articles should have ENGLISH names, though, if any exist. Firejuggler86 (talk) 03:22, 9 April 2021 (UTC)
Well, one can have an occasional canker sore (I get them from eating fruit high in citric acid) without having full-blown aphthous.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:306:CF99:2080:D13F:E4D0:E6E3:738A (talk) 23:12, 13 December 2018 (UTC) 
0 2600:1006:B14B:C035:5035:4A5F:7DF2:36B8 (talk) 20:42, 1 June 2021 (UTC)

Personally I consider it the best treatment. For those who are not familiar with Policresulen, it is a liquid thing, when apply on the ulcer, it will cause an immense pain that makes me cry. But after that a layer of died cells is formed, and as such pain is completely eliminated. It lasted for about 24 hours. Golopotw (talk) 14:13, 2 May 2017 (UTC)

This image was recently added by User:SimplisticReps

A prior image was added by User:BedrockPerson who is likely a prior blocked account. 
We now have User:יבריב attempting to edit war it into place. May need to take this to SPI / ANI.
Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 00:58, 25 November 2017 (UTC)

Everyone I know calls this a cold sore. Maybe it's just the local dialect of my area (Hudson Valley, New York), but they clearly are not talking about herpes.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.206.181.191 (talk) 17:00, 28 November 2018 (UTC) 

The information in thud article about the relation between aphthuos stomatitis and tobacco smoking is confusing and seems somewhat co tradictory, first saying that it is more common in smokers, then explaining why smokers are protected. In fact, this article and the German one both seem to cite https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4024130/ with contradictory interpretations. I think the German article is right in interoreting this as meaning smoking causes less sores. 2A02:8071:D84:A8E0:5826:D901:CBB2:8B5F (talk) 07:32, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

In the lead there's a statement that says that canker sores affect about 20% of people and in the info box a statement saying it affects 30%, both from the same source. I didn't want to make a change because its sourced info in important positions, but wanted to know if we should change one for consistencies sake, and if so which to which? SunflowerWizard (talk) 00:55, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

Checked the attached source. No mention of 30% so have changed it to 20%. Not sure where the 30 came from. SunflowerWizard (talk) 05:14, 15 August 2025 (UTC)