
The reason is that I have been suffering through a toothache. I know that does not sound like much but this really was the mother of all toothaches!
Here is what happened.
I awoke a few Thursdays back with a bit of tooth pain in my rear left back tooth, a molar known as the wisdom tooth as it turns out. I found it a bit annoying but not a major problem. I began gargling with warm water into which I mixed plenty of sea salt and made sure to brush and floss well. Friday morning things were not too bad and I decided that if it did not get better by Monday, I would visit the dentist.
That night the pain increased at least ten-fold. After a miserable sleepless night Saturday morning finally arrived and my reflection in the mirror showed a golf ball swelling of my jaw. I was in real agony all weekend and by Monday, when I finally made it to my dentist he told me I had a serious infection (one of the worst he had ever seen) and that my tooth would have to be taken out. The really bad news was that he would not even consider pulling the tooth until I had been on a very strong antibiotic for over a week!
“We have to kick that infection in the butt a bit before we go messing around in there.” He told me.
‘Messing around in there,’ is not a very reassuring thing to hear when you are reclined in the dentists examining chair, mouth wide open and staring at the ceiling tiles. But I really didn’t care too much, I just wanted the pain to stop. He prescribed the antibiotic and he also gave me a strong pain killer too.
That is what I want to talk to you about today, home remedies for toothache relief. If you’ve ever had a toothache yourself you know that it can be painful, whether a deep nagging pain or a throbbing pain, a bad toothache can really make you miserable.
So, let’s go over my top three natural remedies for curing toothache pains fast, it worked for me and it can work for you too.
Clove is widely accepted as a reliable solution for dry socket and for relieving the pain and discomfort associated with various dental disorders. The Journal of Dentistry, for instance, published a study in 2006 proving that clove essential oil had the same numbing effect as benzocaine, a topical agent commonly used before needle insertion. Once you get a small bottle of clove oil, simply take one single drop and rub it right on the area.
If you don’t have clove essential oil at home, you can go to the store and actually buy just clove powder, mix that with coconut oil and rub that on the area as well. But I’ve found the oil of clove to be the most effective, even more effective than the clove powder that you’d cook with or bake with at home.
2. Sea Salt - The next thing you want to use for home remedies for toothache relief is sea salt. In fact, the benefits of sea salt include its natural antibacterial activities, so using sea salt in the area by gargling and swishing with water can actually have an analgesic effect. Rather than using table salt, however, I strongly encourage you to use actual Sea Salt or Himalayan salt, which both offer over 60 trace minerals and can aid healing.
3. Peppermint Oil - Last but not least, if you really want to soothe or numb the area, use peppermint oil. Peppermint oil contains menthol, which can help numb that area. Simply mix peppermint oil with coconut oil at a 1:1 ratio and rub on the gum area.
Ideally, in home remedies for toothache relief, you should follow the steps I used to relieve my tooth pain. The first thing you should do is swish around sea salt and warm (not hot) water in your mouth for two to three minutes. Next, create a mixture of clove oil and peppermint and rub it directly on the area. I used a cotton swab for this but you could use a cotton ball or even your finger. That was it! I used primarily sea salt gargles and clove oil and I was able to endure the pain until the dentist felt that the infection was reduced enough to pull my wisdom tooth.
If you take all of those simple steps, you’re going to find it’s really going to help you overcome that toothache very quickly. However, if the pain categorically gets out of hand, obviously, you do want to go and see your local dentist or schedule appointment to see a dentist.
Ground or powdered, whole cloves, or clove oil. A clove oil compress seems to work the best, especially if you’re too sore to put whole ones in your mouth.
Ground: This is something that a lot of people have in their kitchen. First, rinse your mouth with warm sea salt water and wash your hands. Take a pinch of the ground cloves and apply it between the gum that is sore and your cheek. Your spit does the trick now, just wait while it mixes with the powder. The pain should subside rather quickly.
Whole: Rinse your mouth with warm sea salt water. Take 2 or 3 cloves and hold them in your mouth as close to the sore area as possible, and wait a few minutes until they start to soften. When they do get softer chew them lightly to release more of the oils, if you’re not too sore.
Clove Oil Toothache Compress: Probably the most effective way to use to clove to help your toothache is to make a compress. You will need…
- Clove essential oil
- Cotton balls
- 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
- Cotton swabs (optional)
Directions
Rinse your mouth with warm sea salt water to get it nicely flushed out. By doing this beforehand, you’re allowing the oil to do its job the very best it can since there’s nothing to block it or make it hard to sink down into the sore spot.
Mix a few drops of clove essential oil with ½ teaspoon of olive oil. Thoroughly soak a cotton ball in this mixture and then hold it gently but firmly against the sore tooth or gum. If you wanted to take a shortcut, you could try putting some of the oil on a cotton swab and dabbing it directly where it hurts, however, jabbing a cotton swab onto a hurting tooth or gum may not be too comfortable, though it worked best for me.
I hope you never have to suffer through 10 days of toothache as I just did, but if a toothache dose come your way I hope you will remember to use clove oil to find some natural, quick and effective relief!