Stomatitis in my dog

Question
My chihuahua mix has been diagnosed twice through biopsies in his mouth with chronic stomatitis, which I'm told is very rare and mostly found in cats.  He's just had a thorough teeth cleaning and has been on a prescription kangaroo and sweet potatoe diet for approx. 2 months.  I've given him two doses of revolution within the past month and he's been off and on prednisone since November 2014.  His jaw chatters all day and the roof of his mouth down to his tonsils is red and inflamed once he is on a decreased amount of prednisone.  I know about the long term affects of using prednisone so I want him to not have to take it anymore.  His Vet has now prescribed Atopica which after reading about it I do not want him on it but my dog is in pain when he's off prednisone.  I've also been brushing his teeth with pet toothpaste and applying maxi gel.  Is there any other option besides Atopica and prednisone?  I've been reading about coilldal silver.

Thank you

Answer
I do not know if colloidal silver would be beneficial, since it is not infected.  Sometimes, we need to use prednisone or other types of steroids at a low, effective dose to treat some of these inflammatory conditions.  Low doses are not as harmful to dogs as the high doses used for long term.  There is a new anti-inflammatory drug called Apoquel (oclacitinib) that may have some benefit in quelling the inflammation and pain. It is for dogs with allergies, but stomatitis often falls into an allergy category.