Virtually everyone has had this happen to them: hurriedly biting into a hot pizza the minute it arrives on the table. Then you feel the burning sensation when the hot food hits your tongue and mouth. Too late, you realize you should have waited. To make it worse, it can take days before the pain and discomfort wears off.

The following are the different categories of burns that you may get and what you can do to relieve burns resulting from biting into a hot pizza.

How Burns Are Measured

1. First degree. The usual signs of this type of burn are pain, a little swelling, redness, and the area can become dry. Where the mouth is concerned, the upper layer of tissue can peel off in a day or two, but the area should heal of its own accord in anything from three to six days.   
2. Second degree. This type of burning can lead to various complications in the mouth and throat. The symptoms of this degree of burn usually are significant pain, blisters, and redness. Second degree burns often go deeper than the outer layer of skin. They can take weeks to heal and there is some risk of infection setting in.
3. Third degree. The symptoms here usually cause the skin to become charred looking, brown, white, dry, or waxy. Third degree burns mostly mean that all the underlying layers of tissue are affected, and some skin grafting may be needed. You may not feel any pain initially with this level of burning because it can leave the nerves damaged. However, you will need to seek medical care straightaway, especially if your mouth is red, swollen, or showing signs of infection.    

Tips for Relieving Mouth Burns Resulting From Pizza

Here is some simple advice for treating mouth burns: 

1. Use some ice. Suck some ice, drink some icy water, or eat some ice cream for relief. 
2. Try drinking some milk. This will coat the skin and burnt area in the mouth. 
3. Buy some pain relief medication. There are some good options which you can buy over-the-counter. Avoid putting aspirin or Anbesol directly onto the burnt area because this may cause further aggravation.  
4. Stay away from certain types of food especially those that are very hot, acidic, crunchy, salty, or spicy. 
5. Squeeze some vitamin E from a capsule onto the affected area to help the wound heal faster.   

Of course, you should continue with your normal oral hygiene habits to ward off further irritability or infection. A heated saline rinse is also good. 

Conclusion

Everyone has suffered from mouth burns at one stage or another and it will very possibly happen again. The key, of course, is to check the temperature of food before you eat it. Try to be patient before delving into piping hot food or drink if you want to avoid the pain of a burnt mouth. Carry on enjoying your food; just be careful not to get burned, but if you do, hopefully the pain relief remedies described above will help.

Still need help? Try contacting a professional like Russell L Castner DDS with your questions to learn how to best get your mouth health back under control.