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AP file
Hot pizza. Mmm, smells good ... and then Oww! You've got pizza mouth burn. We've all been there.
While at a conference in Chicago, Jason McConville was enjoying a slice of deep dish pizza when it happened: the molten cheese burned the roof of his mouth, causing excruciating pain, followed by that all-too-familiar tender, raw sensation for the next few days.
“This has plagued humankind since we discovered fire, it seems. Since the first caveman cooked his turkey over an open fire [humans have burned their mouths],” he says.
We’ve all been there -- biting into hot food or chugging a boiling drink then scalding our mouths. But McConville, an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, decided to do something about it. He designed a dissolvable mouth strip with the local anesthesia benzocaine, sometimes found in cough drops, and also used by dentists, to provide some pain relief. The strips resemble popular breath freshening strips and can be used to sooth burns for a few hours up to a few days.
“That compound itself is a really, really rapidly acting, stable compound that lasts for a long time on the shelf. It seems very logical [to use this] ingredient as it is readily available,” he says.
Someone suffering from the much-hated scalded mouth can slip a strip into her mouth where it will rest on the roof, cheek, or tongue slowly releasing the pain-reliever. Even though the strip will dissolve slower than its breath-freshening cousin, it won’t impair people’s ability to talk or use their mouths.
“The mouth is a very, very quick part of the body to heal; a couple of days is probably the maximum you would need. In addition to that, we have included a semi-active ingredient that promotes healing,” McConville adds.
While the mango-flavored strips exist as a prototype, McConville hopes to find an industry partner to help manufacture the strips for consumers; he doesn’t anticipate facing many barriers—most of the ingredients are readily available in other over-the-counter medications. In a few months, he plans on starting a small study in human participants to test the efficacy of the strips (but assures us that he won’t force subjects to eat scorching food to induce mouth burns). Within a few years, McConville hopes that the pain-relieving strips will be available over the counter, possibly in more flavors than mango.
“We can change the flavor to suit the mood—the sky’s the limit to the flavoring. We need to do to appeal to a wide range of people and this wide variety of people have all burned their mouths.”
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Come up with one that gets rid of "morning mouth" and you'll make a million$$.
FlaNative55:
They already did. It's called toothpaste! Try it.
This could be a great product for people who suffer recurrent mouth ulcers or other painful sores in their mouths. Current products don't last long enough and are often gunky and goopy. Having a pain- relieving strip fused to the roof of your mouth could help provide prolonged minor pain relief in the oral cavity.
Please test these not just on burns, but on various mouth sores!
If you have recurrent mouth ulcers, please discuss them with your doctor because some may be caused by systemic illnesses, diseases, or immune system problems. Don't simply dismiss frequent oral ulcers, especially if they are accompanied by unexplained symptoms elsewhere in/on your body.
Or people could just blow on the pizza and not have to waste money on strips.
I believe science has proven that it's not the cheese, but the tomato sauce that is the origin of the all too familiar "pizza mouth burn." Check it out for your follow up!
Your "science" is faulty. Oil is the substance that can reach the highest temperature, and tomato sauce in itself has no or little oil in it. However, cheese is full of fat and thus oil, and so its temperature can be much higher than other pizza ingredients. Add to that the ability of melted cheese to stick to surfaces and you have the scenario that causes mouth burns.
BTW, if your pizza appears to be swimming in oil or has oil floating on top, it's probably because low-quality cheese was used. High quality mozzarella and other Italian cheeses are less likely to separate their milk solids and oil. If you get an oily pizza, blot off the excess oil and switch brands/restaurants next time to one that uses higher quality cheese.
I always enjoy reading about the cutting edge of medical science!
I wonder if you could get these strips as a topping for your pizza?
I just take a sip of cold coke or other drink before eating hot pizza. When I blow it, I never get it right and I end up burning my mouth anyway. Cold drink before pizza solves my blowing problem.
I do find the strips interesting though. Id pick them up, just in case..
I burned my mouth so badly once I couldn't eat (Thanks coffee maker thermostat) Carmex works great and I always have it in my purse.
These strips don't prevent burns to the roof of your mouth, they just keep you from feeling it so you can burn it some more.
Personally, I would rather feel the burn than to subdue it. Burn, baby, burn!!! No pain, no gain!!
Are you serious?? Just what we need more chemicals in our systems! Take a teaspoon of sugar and put it on your burned tongue, it does the same exact thing. A lot less expensive and less chemicals in our systems!!! Ugghhh!!! Absolutely ridiculous!!
You do realize sugar is a chemical, too, right?
Twelve atoms of carbon, 22 atoms of hydrogen, and 11 atoms of oxygen, all tied up in a lovely little molecular bundle we call sucrose.
Also, I wasn't aware sugar was a topical anesthetic. Won't all those stupid doctors who have been wasting their time with benzocaine feel silly?!
/s
I always found it easier to eat foods such as hot wings with a nice beer or coke. I would sugar does help in some way. And before you say it, I don't drink the beer in a frosted glass, or the coke for that matter.
When chemists want to scare people, they call sugar alpha-(1R,2R,3S,4S,5R)-glucopyranosyl-beta-(2S,3S,4S,5R)-fructofuranoside
Maybe it comes from that compounding pharm in New England, I'm sure they're safe.
Stunned, the "heat" from chili sauce is far different from the heat that causes a physical burn. You can't compare the two, even though the English language confusingly uses the same word ("hot").
Lol or here is idea.... wait 2 minutes for your food to cool down....
This, just below an article about severe obesity growing in America. Slow down, fatsos - let the pizza cool....while you eat a salad first. And put that beer down! I see you!!
I have COPD and use several inhalers daily. I get this type of sensation perodically, even though it is not the typical "pizza mouth" it is the same feeling, these strips wuld be very helpful.
"Even though the strip will dissolve slower than its breath-freshening cousin, it won’t impair people’s ability to talk or use their mouths."
Use their mouths? Well, I certainly can appreciate that! wacka-wacka-wacka!
I don't think I have ever burned my mouth in my life
ORRRR, and I know this is just crazy talk... but you could NOT EAT LIKE A PIG and not burn your mouth. I know, right?
You are talking to a bunch of ravenous morbidly obese Americans.
Man, and here I clicked onto the article all excited for a strip that helps health the raw skin on the roof of my mouth after consuming too much food with rough texture, like a cooled down baguette or something.
Talk about the best example of a "first world problem."
Finally, relevant information in the news. Oops. Ow! Where can I get thothe thtripth?
Great idea. This guy needs to go on Shark Tank.