Conditions that cause the mouth to shed skin range from the fairly harmless to the very dangerous. Usually it is not normal for the mouth to shed skin, but under a few circumstances it can be very normal. If you are not regularly experiencing skin shedding from your mouth and you’ve recently burned your mouth, as with a hot beverage, or you have eaten something very spicy, the mouth may shed skin as a result of being burned. This condition usually doesn’t require treatment unless you have swallowed a caustic chemical, or you continue to have pain or shedding skin in the mouth three of four days after you burned your mouth.

Others things that can cause the mouth to shed skin can result from certain allergies. For example, people with gluten intolerance may need to look for special toothpastes that don’t irritate their mouths. If you’re taking certain medications, it can cause the mouth to shed skin. For example if you take antibiotics, you might develop thrush, or a yeast infection in your mouth. This does require treatment, and you should see your doctor if this occurs. You’ll often recognize thrush because you’ll see small white patches on the inside of the mouth, and if you’ve been taking antibiotics, thrush is a likely cause.

Radiation treatment can also result in mouth sores or ulcerations, which may cause the mouth to shed skin. This is a fairly common side effect, but it should be mentioned to your oncologist. There are also plenty of mouth ulcerations that might result in a little mouth peeling. These include things like canker sores, sores in the mouth from several sexually transmitted diseases, or from certain viruses like chicken pox.

Skin shedding in the mouth may also indicate that you have certain autoimmune conditions. Pemphigus vulgaris, for instance may result in mild to moderately painful blisters inside the mouth, which can cover not just the walls of the mouth but also the tongue and gums. Other autoimmune diseases may not merely cause the mouth to shed skin, but may create conditions that cause skin lesions in the mouth and elsewhere, as a side effect. This is true of HIV/AIDs, and may be present in other conditions.

Sometimes people brush their teeth too often or too vigorously, which may cause the mouth to shed skin, because injury is being inflicted on the mouth. People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) for instance, may brush their teeth (though not all do) very often, and are constantly assaulting their mouth with continued brushing. This may be helped by therapy and medication treatment.

Lastly, certain forms of oral cancer may result in skin shedding in the mouth, especially if you develop lesions in the mouth. If you smoke or chew tobacco, you should have lesions or skin shedding diagnosed immediately. Actually, this is true of most incidences of mouth skin shedding. Unless you have a direct cause you can point to, like burning the mouth or eating spicy foods, you should see a doctor to have any type of skin shedding in the mouth evaluated for cause.