[Stomatitis in childhood, not always benign].

Two boys of 1 and 16 year had painful buccal lesions and were admitted for dehydration. The younger had finger and toe blisters; the older, severely ill, had conjunctivitis, urethritis and skin lesions. Only symptomatic treatment with lidocaine gel and paracetamol gave good recovery. A 5-year-old Turkish girl had recurrent painful buccal ulcers which each time cleared up spontaneously. Stomatitis is common in childhood. Viral infections are the most common causes of stomatitis, in particular infections with herpes simplex virus (herpes gingivostomatitis), Coxsackie virus (herpangina, hand-foot-mouth-disease), chickenpox and infectious mononucleosis. Bacterial infections are rare and mostly secondary to the viral infections. In infants oral candidiasis (thrush) is a common cause of stomatitis. Most infections are self-limiting and reassurance of parents is important. Dehydration is a common complication and admission to hospital can be prevented by analgesics. The most important non-infectious conditions that cause stomatitis in children are recurrent aphthous stomatitis, erythema multiforme major (Stevens-Johnson syndrome), Behçet's disease, malignancy (leukaemia), immune-mediated disorders (agranulocytosis, cyclic neutropenia), traumata, blistering disorders of the skin and lichen planus. A complete history and a thorough physical examination usually give the correct diagnosis and further investigations are seldom necessary.