There is nothing in the world like a bad toothache. You feel that your entire head is on fire and all of your senses are on edge. The pain is constant and seems to enter into every pore of your being, making it difficult to go about your daily life. And, of course, it is always worse on the weekends or on holidays when you can’t get to a dentist right away.
Home Remedies for Toothaches
However, there are home remedies that you can use to relieve the pain until you can get an appointment with your dentist.
- Put it on ice. Holding an icepack against your face in the affected area will relieve the pain.
- Chew raw onion. The onion will kill germs in your mouth and help kill the pain. It may be unpleasant, and make your breath smell, but it supposedly does work.
- Chew garlic with rock salt. This will help to lessen the pain. Again, it will make your breath smell but you will get relief.
- Put vanilla extract on the tooth. Soak a piece of gauze with a few drops of the extract and hold it on your tooth.
- Gargle with salt water. Salt can temporarily relieve the pain. Swish the water around the affected tooth. Make sure the water is lukewarm and not ice cold.
- Massage. Massage the area between your thumb and forefinger, or rub it with an ice cube. This also works for other types of pain such as headaches.
- Put clove oil on the tooth. Soak a piece of gauze with the oil and hold it on your tooth. This will help the pain and will also make your breath smell pleasant.
- Put a hot tea bag on the tooth. Hold a tea bag against your tooth and the pain should go away or lessen.
- Keep your head elevated. This will lower your blood pressure and lessen the throbbing pain that often comes with a toothache.
- Have a drink. Having an alcoholic drink such as brandy and swishing it around the sore tooth can help to relieve the pain by numbing the tooth and the surrounding gums.
Go to the dentist
All of these home remedies are good to relieve your pain temporarily but you must see a dentist as soon as you can if you experience a toothache. It could be a cavity or it could be the beginnings of an abscess that can make you very ill if you don’t get treatment for it immediately.
MayoClinic.com. "Toothache: First aid" (Mar. 2, 2010)
Susan Keeping - Susan has been writing online for over 10 years and is currently developing a website for women.
