5 Toothache Home Remedies That Are Safe to Try

Toothache home remedies

Do you have a toothache?

Toothaches can make you miserable, often making it impossible for you to focus on work or to get a good night’s sleep. While it can be tempting to simply stave off the pain and hope it’ll go away on its own, tooth pain can have a variety of causes and treatments. You may simply have food debris, such as a kernel of corn, stuck between your teeth, but you may also have periodontitis, a severe cavity, or a tooth that has been cracked or broken. While you can likely remove food debris from between your teeth at home fairly easily, you can’t treat the other causes of tooth pain on your own. If you leave a toothache untreated, it will almost always get worse—you could even end up contracting an infection in the damaged tooth, which will worsen the pain.

It’s best to get your toothache checked out by Dr. Staley—especially if it’s severe or if it lasts for more than two days. He can quickly determine the cause of your tooth pain and create a treatment plan. For example, periodontitis often requires treatments such as scaling and root planing, while a severe cavity may require a root canal and dental crown. Severely cracked or broken teeth may also require a crown or veneer in order to repair the tooth and protect it from future damage.

When your tooth pain isn’t so severe that you require an emergency appointment, however, you might find yourself waiting for our office to open so that you can receive treatment. Thankfully, there are plenty of home remedies you can use to bring relief from your toothache while you wait. The internet is full of suggestions, but not all of them work or are safe to use on your teeth. Here are a few proven remedies you can try at home that may alleviate your toothache.

1. Cold Compress

This is a simple but effective way to numb your tooth pain regardless of its root cause. The cold compress also reduces inflammation and swelling, so it can be particularly helpful if your pain is from an injury or infection. All you need to do is wrap a bag of ice in a towel and hold it to the outside of your jaw, lined up with the affected tooth, for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. You should be careful not to use the compress too much, however, as overusing it can cause problems of its own and worsen your pain in the long run. As a rule of thumb, you should keep the ice off of your jaw for at least 20 or 30 minutes before reapplying the compress so that it has a chance to warm up.

2. Salt Water Rinse

Saltwater rinses are great at encouraging wounds in your mouth to heal, so it’s common for dentists to ask patients to rinse their mouths with salt water after certain dental procedures. If you have ever gotten a piercing, you might remember regularly cleaning the area with saltwater. This is because it’s a great way to naturally reduce inflammation and kill off harmful bacteria. It can also relieve the pressure in abscesses, making them less painful. Its ability to reduce inflammation and encourage healing makes saltwater an effective form of pain relief for a toothache, but it might not last for an extended period of time.

To create a saltwater rinse, simply mix about ½ teaspoon of salt in 8 ounces of warm water. Don’t use water that’s too hot or too cold—the warm temperature of the water will help the salt dissolve and will feel good on your tooth. Then simply swish the water around in your mouth for at least 30 seconds before spitting it out—don’t swallow the mixture.

3. Clove Oil

Clove oil has been used for tooth pain relief for centuries—and it still holds up today as an effective means of pain relief. It’s a natural antiseptic, helping to fight against infection, but it also actively numbs your pain and reduces inflammation. Using it is simple; just place a small amount on a Q-tip or cotton ball and apply it to your tooth—directly where you feel the most pain—a few times each day.

The taste of clove oil is strong, almost spicy, but not particularly unpleasant. Some people choose to dilute the oil with water or olive oil or to create a rinse by adding a drop of clove oil to a small glass of water. If you choose to use it as a rinse, you should swish it around in your mouth for at least 30 seconds before spitting it out.

4. Peppermint

Peppermint is a popular and effective treatment for tooth pain, especially since its taste is pleasant. It has antibacterial properties and relieves toothaches by numbing the area it’s applied to. Even better, there are multiple ways you can use peppermint to help your toothache, allowing you to experiment with what’s more comfortable or what works better for you. The first option is to drink peppermint tea and hold it in your mouth for a few seconds before you swallow it. You should wait for the tea to cool a little and avoid adding sugar to it, since exposing your teeth to sugar for an extended period of time isn’t a great idea if your tooth might already be suffering from a severe cavity.

You can also take a used peppermint tea bag and put it in your mouth, pressed against the aching tooth. Wait for the teabag to cool a little, however, so that it’s still warm but not hot. You can also put the teabag in the freezer for a few minutes in order to soothe the area with a cold compress of sorts while still reaping the benefits of the peppermint. Alternatively, you can simply use peppermint oil by dabbing it on your tooth with a Q-tip.

5. Over-the-Counter Pain Medication

If you’re suffering from severe tooth pain, you might find that the best relief is simply to take over-the-counter pain medication. For children, acetaminophen is the recommended pain medication, but if you’re over the age of 16 you can take whatever pain medication you prefer. The biggest downside of over-the-counter pain medication is that it can sometimes work too well, allowing you to forget about your pain completely.

This might sound nice at first, but without a little tenderness to remind you to be careful, you may end up chewing and eating just like you normally would; at best, this will aggravate the tooth, making your pain worse in the long run, but with tooth injuries, it can actually cause you to do additional damage to the tooth. This could cause you significantly more pain and make it harder for Dr. Staley to repair the tooth. You can certainly still use over-the-counter painkillers to reduce or eliminate your pain, but you should be careful not to chew on the affected side of your mouth.

While toothaches are never enjoyable, there are plenty of methods you can use to reduce or eliminate your pain, ensuring that you don’t have to spend a sleepless night or miserable weekend waiting for our office to open. No matter how well these methods may work, however, they’re only temporary fixes. If you have a toothache, you should call our office today to schedule an appointment with Dr. Stanley; after all, getting the root of the problem treated is the best way to permanently resolve your toothache.