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Oral thrush (mouth thrush)

Oral thrush is usually harmless. It's common in babies and also older people with dentures. It can be treated with antifungal mouth gel.

Check if it's oral thrush

Adults

The inside of a person's mouth which is red with lots of white patches.
When you have oral thrush, your mouth is red inside with white patches.
Red patches inside a person's mouth.
When you wipe off the white patches, they leave red spots that can bleed.

Other symptoms in adults are:

Oral thrush in adults is not contagious.

Babies

White coating on the top of a child's tongue.
A baby with oral thrush will have a white coating on their tongue. It may look like cottage cheese and it cannot be rubbed off easily.
White spots inside a baby's mouth.
Sometimes there are white spots in their mouth.

Babies with oral thrush may not want to feed.

Babies can pass oral thrush on through breastfeeding. This can cause nipple thrush in mothers.

If you're not sure it's oral thrush

Look at other causes of a white or sore tongue.

Treatment for oral thrush

A GP can prescribe antifungal mouth gel to treat oral thrush.

Non-urgent advice: See a GP if:

  • if you think you or your child might have oral thrush

How you can prevent oral thrush

Oral thrush is an infection caused by a fungus called Candida. Some things can make the fungus grow more than usual.

You might get thrush if you're:

There are some things you can do to help prevent oral thrush.

Do

  • take care of your teeth: brush twice a day, clean your dentures, and go for regular check-ups even if you have dentures

  • brush your gums and tongue with a soft toothbrush if you do not have any teeth

  • rinse your mouth after eating or taking medicine

  • go to regular check-ups if you have a long-term condition like diabetes

  • sterilise dummies regularly

  • sterilise bottles after each use

Don’t

  • do not wear dentures at night

  • do not keep wearing dentures if they do not fit properly – see your dentist

  • do not smoke

Page last reviewed: 5 June 2023
Next review due: 5 June 2026