Home Treatment

If your child has mild thrush, you may only need to clean bottle nipples and pacifiers regularly and massage the inside of your child's mouth with a clean moist cloth. If you breast-feed, dry your nipples after breast-feeding. And apply lanolin lotion, which may help relieve nipple soreness. Your doctor may also prescribe an antifungal medicine that you can put on your nipples.

If you develop thrush and have false teeth (dentures), it is important to clean your mouth and dentures every night.

• Remove your dentures before going to bed.
• Scrub them well with a clean toothbrush and water.
• Soak them overnight in chlorhexidine, which you can get from a pharmacist. Or you can use a denture cleaner, which you can get from most drug or grocery stores.
• Rinse the dentures well in the morning. If you used chlorhexidine to soak your dentures, don't use fluoride toothpaste for at least 30 minutes after putting your dentures back in your mouth. (Fluoride can weaken the effect of chlorhexidine.)

Gentian violet (1%) sometimes works as treatment for thrush. It is a dye that kills bacteria and fungi, and it is available without a prescription. Talk to your doctor before using gentian violet.

Comfort measures

To help reduce the discomfort of thrush in children and adults (but not newborns):

• Drink cold liquids, such as water or iced tea, or eat flavored ice treats or frozen juices.
• Eat foods that are easy to swallow such as gelatin, ice cream, or custard.
• If the patches are painful, try drinking from a straw.
• Rinse your mouth several times a day with a warm saltwater rinse. You can make the saltwater mixture with 1 tsp (5 g) of salt in 8 fl oz (240 mL) of warm water.