Everyone who has suffered a toothache knows that there’s very little that compares in pain and discomfort: toothaches are awful. It is in those moments that we realize the importance of dentists in our societies and they go from villains to heroes in our minds.
Sadly, toothaches also happen in moments when these silent heroes are unavailable, and you may have to deal with the pain on your own for several hours or even days, depending on the situation.
So we compiled a list of useful tips to survive this problem until you can get to a dentist. It should be clear that the best option will always be to get professional help, but these could buy you some time until you manage to get there.
Cloves have been long used as a natural anesthetic, as its active principles have antioxidant, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and soothing properties. If you are using oil, you want to be careful in the way you apply it because it stings a little (the numbing effect comes afterwards), so only a few drops at the time over the damaged tooth. Alternatively, you can use a cloth to rub the oil.
If you only have whole cloves, you want to put a few of them in your mouth and sort of moist them a little, until they get soft, then bite over them very gently to release the oil. Finally, hold the softened clove next to your hurting tooth and let it rest there for twenty minutes or half an hour. As previously said, it may sting a bit at first but the relief will follow.
This little trick is a lot less known, but it can relieve the pain almost instantly. You only need to rub some Vicks VapoRub along your jawline, specifically in the place where the nerves of your teeth end.It will help you sooth the ache right away.
Good old cold compresses are a great way to do the job, especially if you are in one of those situations where it’s the middle of the night and you just don’t have anything else to help. Of course the important thing here is to not apply the cold compress directly to your hurting tooth, as it will most likely be sensitive to extreme temperatures and it will only hurt more.
What you want to do is fill a plastic bag with ice, cover it with a cloth, and press it to your cheek in the area of the hurting tooth until the numbing effect settles.
This natural remedy is used to sooth pain on sensitive skin. The properties of peppermint are similar to those on cloves, giving a numbing effect when applied. The tea bag of course should be damp before holding it to the tooth.
This one is apparently used since the ancient past, and consists of swishing oil around in your mouth for about fifteen minutes to cure the pain. This process helps extract toxins from your mouth, but as they remain in the oil, an important part is to spit it out instead of swallowing. For this process you can use pretty much any organic oil, although sesame and sunflower and the most usual.
We leave it for last although it may be your first choice. Not that we have anything against them, as long as you know how to ration themproperly. But here’s an idea, how about trying painkillers along with one of the other methods? While ibuprofen or aspirin will sooth your pain, it is not a good idea to pop them like candy every time it happens, and toothaches tend to stay. Combining them with a natural remedy may help to strengthen it as well as make it last longer.
