How to Care for a Toothache

Common toothache symptoms include throbbing pain around a certain tooth, sensitivity to hot or cold foods, and discomfort when chewing. Causes can vary from cavities and gum disease to cracked teeth and exposed tooth roots. These first-aid measures will help.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dental Floss
• Ibuprofen
• Mouthwash
• Dental Floss
• Ice Packs
• Ice packs

1. Clean your mouth by rinsing it with warm water.

2. Floss gently around the sensitive tooth to dislodge any food particles.

3. Try placing an ice pack on your jaw to soothe the pain.

4. Use over-the-counter painkillers like aspirin or ibuprofen to relieve pain.

5. Call your dentist if you have a fever or if the pain worsens or lasts for more than a day. He or she will ask you questions to determine the urgency of your need for treatment.

Tips & Warnings

• If a cavity is causing your toothache and you cannot see a dentist quickly, use a toothpick to remove food from the cavity. Soak a piece of cotton with oil of cloves and pack it into the cavity, but avoid getting any oil on your tongue.
• Prevent future toothaches with good oral hygiene. Brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, floss once daily and see your dentist for checkups every six months.
• Never put aspirin or painkillers directly on or around the sore tooth; they can burn your mouth.

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[Biscuit4u]

on 12/12/2008 It might be all in my mind, but I try to brush out anything in the cavity... swish with room temp water... then swish apple sauce (room temp). Trying to work the apple sauce into the cavity. Sounds crazy, but it works for me.

[ONEEYE58]

on 10/20/2008 None of the above suggestions had the slightest positive affect of relieving any pain what so ever. Matter of fact the warm water aggravated it to 3 fold what the pain was before I did the warm water

[L4Lxoxo]

on 9/21/2008 i think that a cold cloth on the head works!

[mhenry23]

on 11/5/2007 Me and my fiancee have done everything in the book for a toothache can anybody help us with anything else.

[nickhow100]

on 2/7/2007 further info !! garlic and anbosol and bonjella ect , naf!!! well actualy you may want to try them but for me they didnt work , ie' bonjela just runs of the area especialy where ya dnt want it to go and anbasol type products taste bloody awfull and make you feel worse cuz stings ya mouth,gums ect and just makes you more cheesed of !! , so like my other comment i sudgest you try cold water in a container with ice in and just keep swishing area , or the blue tack in the affected hole , area!! think about it , sensative tooth with cold or hot air going in, blocked by blue tack , job done , there is only one downside to using blue tack is that it may be anoying to feal it with your tongue , but if you have a filling thats fell out, or a chip then blue tack also is great at stoping your tongue from fealing the anoying crack!! so give it a go !!