Things You'll Need:
- Salt
- Splenda brand sweetener
- Bag of frozen something small
- Ibuprofen
- A clean sock full of dry rice
- Microwave
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Step 1
The first thing, is to identify which tooth is offending you. It is not always easy, and sometimes it is not the one you think. Go to the bathroom, and look in your mouth in the mirror. If it is obvious that you have one tooth that is abcessed, you know where to go. Sometimes it takes a while. Poke at each one and see which one sets off the buzzer. Go make some coffee, using splenda instead of sugar. Sugar would only enflame it more. If you dont take sugar, all the better.
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Step 2
Now, brush your teeth well, paying a little more attention to the offending tooth. Toothpaste for sensitive teeth is reccomended here, as it helps a bit, and brushing it into the gumline both opens it up for the numbing properties of the toothpaste to work, but also will let any backed up nastiness out. This will relieve a bit of pressure, and help with the pain greatly. It seems counterproductive to keep touching the painful tooth, but this is an important step.
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Step 3
Now that all is minty fresh, and likely even more sore than it was 4 minutes ago, we are ready to start helping it. Take the reccomended dose of Ibuprofen. Ibuprofen is wonderful stuff, that helps not only with pain, but is also an anti-inflammatory. Means it lets the swelling go down. Means less pressure, and that means less intense pain.
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Step 4
Take your bag of frozen whatever. I prefer blueberries as they are pulpy and hold the cold a bit longer. But anything small, roundish and frozen will work. Now stick this to your face, putting pressure on the cheek over the offending tooth. Don't put a tea towel around it, that just keeps the cold out. If the cold causes you too much pain, wrap the froaen stuff in a tshirt, just one layer.
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Step 5
Once your cheek is numb, sprinkle some salt on the gumline, or, if there is a cavity, into the cavity. While it melts and tastes nasty, and your face thaws out, put the sock full of rice in the microwave for a couple minutes. Just to get it to where you can barely stand touching it. Set it on the counter, and sprinkle more salt where it hurts. Then, take the hot sock of rice, and hold it to your cheek, but do not press it. Your jawbone will sink into the rice, and it will slowly warm everything up.
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Step 6
Now, go lie down in bed, with the rice sock under your head, on the offending cheek. By now, the Ibuprofen should have kicked in, and all the things you have done will either deaden the nerve, or relieve pressure so there is less pain. This should allow you to sleep. In the morning, go see a professional and get non-medieval attention.
