How to Treat a Toothache
Anyone who has ever experienced a toothache knows how extremely painful they can be. The pain can disrupt your eating and drinking habits and may even have you stuck in bed trying to deal with the unbearable discomfort. There are many different causes for toothaches. Knowing what is causing the toothache can help you decide which treatment you should get.
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Things You'll Need
- Salt water or hydrogen peroxide
- Aspirin or other pain killers
- Toothache gels
- Clove oil or tea tree oil
- Dentist
Instructions
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Call your dentist if your toothache goes from a dull ache to having severe toothache pain or if you’re experiencing other symptoms such as a fever, an earache, or drainage from the gums around the infected tooth. You could have a cavity, abscess, impacted tooth, or other dental problem that is causing the toothache. If you feel like you have a dental emergency and the pain is getting worse, see if you can get an emergency appointment to come in the same day.
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Buy one of the toothache gels found in the oral health care aisle of your local drug store and rub it on the gum around the painful tooth. These gels come in regular, maximum, or severe toothache strength and it can be used to desensitize toothache pain. In addition to toothache gels, you can get also get certain brands in liquid, cream, or powder form.
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Take some aspirin or other type of pain medication. Pain medications can help to lessen or relieve the toothache pain until you’re able to get to a dentist. You can also crush the aspirin and mix it with a little water to make a paste and apply it to the tooth and the area surrounding the painful tooth. Applying clove oil or tea tree oil to the affected tooth and surrounding area can also help to relieve the pain.
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Avoid foods that cause your tooth any more pain. You may need to avoid extreme temperatures of hot and cold, sweets and foods that are hard to chew.
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Try making a mixture of salt and water and rinsing your mouth with it. You can also rinse with hydrogen peroxide but be sure not to swallow any of it. Rinsing with salt water or hydrogen peroxide can cause some pain relief and also rinse away any of the bacteria that could be infecting your tooth.
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Tips & Warnings
Because there can be many causes for a toothache, it's best to see a dentist if the pain last more than a couple of days or if you experience other symptoms in addition to the toothache.
