Toothaches can be caused by injury or tooth decay or dental abscess or tooth infection or from many other causes. However, its symptom is at best troublesome and often ranges to be excruciatingly painful. Toothache has not only the potential to disturb your work but also your sleep after a tired day. It may impede the enjoyment of your eating too. In short, toothache can throw your life out of gear as long as it lasts. And if not tended to, it can last pretty long.
Toothache often needs a visit to the doctor or over the counter medication but sometimes home remedies also suffice to get rid of or to alleviate toothache. However, it should be kept in mind that in general home remedies work only when the toothache is not of serious nature.
Rinse Away
There are several home remedies for toothache and in this article we would discuss some of them. One of the home remedies for toothache is to go for salt water rinsing of mouth. Take half a teaspoon of table salt to 8 ounces of water and swish the compound in your mouth. Then spit the water out; don’t swallow it.
As a natural antibacterial agent, salt water can facilitate in reducing inflammation, thus reducing toothache. Rinsing with salt water also helps in removing food particles stuck in teeth or gums.
Rinsing the mouth with hydrogen peroxide can also be an effective natural remedy for toothache. Besides killing bacteria, hydrogen peroxide can heal bleeding gums too. It can facilitate in reducing swelling and pain. This toothache remedy is ideal to heal bleeding gums or to do away with toothache caused by an infection.
However, before administering hydrogen peroxide you need to properly dilute it by amalgamating 3% hydrogen peroxide and water in equal parts. Of course, only use the mixture as a mouthwash, and don’t swallow it. Swish the solution for 30 seconds or so and then spit it out.
Also brushing gently with toothpaste specially tailored for sensitive teeth for some days has the potential to gradually ebb the pain of toothache.
Cold Sounds Hot
Another quick toothache remedy that you can have at home is using cold compress on the toothache affected side of the jaw. This can help to alleviate the pain by constricting the blood vessels in the area. Swelling and inflammation can also be reduced by cold.
Cold compress can be simply made by having a plastic bag full of ice wrapped in a towel. It is advisable to apply pressure with the bag (cold compress) to the affected area for 15-20 minutes at a stretch, after every few hours.
Herbal Remedy
There are herbs for toothache relief too. Clove and peppermint are two herbs which can act as home remedies for toothache. Application of clove can reduce toothache. One of the main ingredients of clove is Eugenol, which can play a role in tooth pain remedy. Eugenol acts as an analgesic and numbs the area where it is applied. If you apply it on a pain-affected area, pain is likely to be numbed.
One can soak ground clove in water to make it a paste and then apply the clove paste on the tooth-affected area of the mouth.
You can also gently chew or suck on a single clove and then bring it to sit near the painful tooth. This toothache remedy has high likelihood of being helpful.
Having a drop of clove oil to a glass of water and using it as a mouthwash may also give you a quick relief from toothache, at least temporarily.
Peppermint tea bag can also be used to alleviate toothache pain and aching gums. It can be used as another of the home remedies for toothache. Let a used peppermint tea bag to cool down to gently warm state and then apply it on the affected area of the face.
Thyme is endowed with antibacterial and antioxidant properties whose application can help to cure toothaches. Rinse a cotton ball with a few drops of thyme essential oil and a few drops of water. After diluting the oil with water, apply the cotton to the affected area of the mouth.
Guava Leaves and Wheatgrass Juice
Chewing of fresh guava leaves or a mouth wash of crushed guava leaves in boiling water can also facilitate in curing or alleviating your toothache. The anti-inflammatory property of guava leaves can help in this regard.
Using wheatgrass juice as a mouthwash can also act as one of the home remedies for toothache. Wheatgrass can play a role in reducing inflammation in mouth and preventing infection and it is spruced with impressive chlorophyll content, which makes it handy to fight against bacteria.
Vanilla Extract
Another way of getting relief from toothache is by applying vanilla extract on the affected area of your mouth. Vanilla extract has alcohol in it which can numb the pain for a while. The antioxidants in vanilla may facilitate you to get healed from toothache. Use a cotton ball with a small amount of vanilla extract on your aching tooth or gum for several times a day, and there is likelihood of getting some relief.
If the home remedies for toothache are not yielding the desired result then do not hesitate to visit the doctor with urgency.
FAQs
Using cold compress is one of the fastest ways to get temporary relief from toothache. Hydrogen peroxide rinse can also heal your toothache quickly, especially if the toothache is caused by bleeding gums or infection.
One can’t be sure that which remedy can give even temporary relief from all kinds of toothaches in five minutes but applying cold compress generally gives you the quickest temporary relief from toothache in most cases. You have to repeat cold compress after every few hours to expect any permanent result.
Brushing gently with toothpaste made to cater to sensitive teeth can facilitate in soothing the nerve pain in tooth. Also avoid hot and cold food and drinks till the nerve pain persist.
In dentistry, the most popular over the counter medication for toothache relief is ibuprofen, which is available in tablets, liquid gel capsules, and oral suspensions. However, people using certain medications (like aspirin, blood thinners and many others) should not go for ibuprofen. Therefore it is better to consult a doctor before administering it.
Application of alcohol or ice or clove on the affected area can numb tooth pain.
